The mayor of Bridport wants to set a new challenge for the town as he is elected for a third term.

Councillor Ian Bark will continue as Bridport's first citizen after being nominated by Cllr Anne Rickard and seconded by Cllr Gill Massey.

He thanked his fellow town councillors and said: "It is without a doubt an incredible honour and a privilege to serve as mayor of this wonderful town and I am deeply humbled by your faith in me."

He also thanked his wife, Anne, and placed the mayoress chain around her neck.

Cllr bark then went on to propose a new challenge for Bridport residents and business owners to get behind.

"I would like to lay down the gauntlet on a new challenge," he said. "For Bridport to become a sustainable palm oil community as part of the drive to make Dorset the first county in the UK to become a sustainable palm oil community.

"The Dorset Sustainable Palm Oil Community is a newly established project encouraging businesses, restaurants, schools and hospitals to find out where they source their palm oil from, and make changes to ensure that they only use certified sustainable palm oil.

"Using certified sustainable palm oil reduces deforestation and enhances biodiversity, in turn protecting orangutangs, pygmy elephants and other endangered and vulnerable species that inhabit these rich forest ecosystems.

"Although the hospitality industry will play a big role in increasing the demand for sustainable palm oil, the aim is to get representation from organisations in a variety of sectors across Bridport."

The mayor's objective is to recruit 'Sustainable Palm Oil Champions' from restaurants, cafes, hotels, fast food outlets, workplaces, schools, hospitals, visitor attractions, leisure facilities, sports clubs, retailers and manufacturers."

Cllr Bark added: "To achieve that I am looking to recruit a small team to spearhead this initiative so if you or someone you know might be interested, please get in touch.

"Bridport is a community made up of a rich and diverse collection of little communities and groups, all of which are doing amazing things. But there is one such group that I would like to make the focus of my championing and fundraising efforts this year and that is young people.

"The past two years have been extremely tough for all of us, but young people have had a particularly rough deal. Home learning from nursery to university, and an exam system in turmoil are but two of the more obvious impacts they have had to face. All at a time in their lives when the need stability, support, care and guidance are most needed."

For the coming mayoral year, Cllr Bark has chosen Bridport Youth and Community Centre and The Bank of Dreams and Nightmares, which offers free creative story writing workshops to disadvantaged children aged from seven to 18 in West Dorset.

"To that end," he said, "I look forward to lending my support and becoming actively engaged in working with, not just these two most worthy groups, but with others who are providing much needed support and opportunities to enable our young people to spread their wings and fly.

"The coming 12 months and beyond are going to be challenging for all of us. Our local businesses are having to wrestle with the impact of increased costs of energy, raw materials, components and goods. The challenge of manufacturing, procuring and supplying at a competitive price, that is sufficient to make a business viable, is a daunting one, and I am sure there are already many in our business community having sleepless nights as they wrestle with it.

"As your mayor, and as a town council, we are on your side, and will do all we can to be of positive support."

He added: "There may be tough times ahead but there are also exciting times ahead. As your mayor, I will do all I can to be of positive support whenever and wherever I can."

Cllr Dave Bolwell was elected deputy mayor and Cllr Dave Rickard was elected leader of the council.