THE widow of a former Upton-upon-Severn mayor has made a presentation to the town in his memory.

Helen Holder, whose husband Ernie died last year during his term of office, gave a pendant to be worn by future mayoresses as a badge of office.

Making the presentation to the present Mayor, Coun Roger Barker, at the town's annual meeting, Mrs Holder said her husband had been very proud to be on the town council and, even more so, to be mayor.

"I accompanied him on a lot of official functions and it was his wish, at the end of his term of office, to present the town with an item to be worn on official occasions," she said.

An inscription on the back of the pendant records the fact that it was presented in memory of Ernie Holder, who was mayor from May 2000 to his death in August 2001.

The 74-year-old mayor was a keen boatsman, who died on board his boat, Tahelia, after a heart attack.

He was returning to Upton from Padstow, in Cornwall, where his wife had joined him the previous weekend.

Mrs Holder had returned home ahead of her husband, who was delayed by bad weather and was making the trip alone.