For the first time in more than a year, Wigton Town Council enjoyed its first face-to-face council meeting.

When the pandemic hit in March last year, everyone had to adapt and change how people worked.

For local government, this was a huge step as councils legally had to continue to hold meetings.

As the global pandemic stepped up and people locked themselves away, officials were still needed to carry out their roles in the community.

Wigton Town Council adapted and hosted its meetings via Zoom managing to continue its work.

Chairman of the council Elaine Lynch said: “Welcome everyone. I will have to use my teacher voice! Welcome to our first face-to-face meeting in very difficult circumstances since last March. It’s nice to see everybody here.”

At the meeting the councillors took a vote to fill a vacancy on the council and a member of the public was questioned and asked why the wanted to become a member of the town council.

Monique Speksnyder has lived in the town for a couple of years and has a passion for ecology and nature.

The new councillor is hoping to help with green spaces in the town. She has also been added to the festival committee, along with Christopher Scott, who is the deputy mayor of the town.

This proved to be a difficult process as with out the positions being filled it was suggested that Christmas would be cancelled for Wigton.

Leader of the town council Mrs Lynch provided an update on the Borderlands Project, saying that surveys had been submitted and they were hoping that this would give the council a better insight into what would be happening.

However, councillors were left feeling that some of the questions on the survey were generic and didn’t give an option to explain what the town had to offer and what would be needed to improve the area in future.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 14, in the Market Hall in Wigton.