History was made this morning in Whitehill & Bordon as dignitaries from Hampshire and Surrey joined dozens of worshippers for a mayoral first.

Sacred Heart Church was the venue for the Mayor’s Civic Service with the event tying-in with Sunday Mass.

Town mayor, Cllr Catherine Clark, is confident the service led by Rev Ff John Chandler was the first of kind in W&B.

She took the Promises of Office and gave a short address before a congregation which includes worshippers, councillors and her mayoral counterparts from Alton, Farnham, Winchester and Southampton.

She said: “This town is a fantastic town and you have to be part of it – join us for all the community events we hold.

“And your councillors aren’t as horrible as you think. We’re here for you and we will listen.”

The service included readings by Cllrs Clark, Lynn Malikoff-Johnston and deputy mayor, Cllr Linda Delve, and an address by Rev Ft John, who warned the attendees of the perils of feeling entitled.

He said: “There’s a humility in wanting to know, wanting to learn, because in that desire we admit we don’t know.

“That humility is the antidote to the attitude we’ve been looking at recently, the attitude of entitlement.”

The service also included a collection for the mayor’s charity Peer Talk, a support group for people living with depression, anxiety or distress.

It also came on the back on a busy few weeks as she attended the recent Phoenix Beer Festival and completed a 10k charity walk in London for Cancer Research UK.

She and Kerry Callard-Williams have raised nearly £600 at the time of writing by taking part in the Shine Night Walk. The pair took just over two hours to complete a circular walk from Battersea which took in some of the capital’s big sights.