A KEEN amateur upholsterer he may be, but Carnforth's town clerk has no plans to settle in a comfy armchair when he departs from the town council this week.

Philip Charnley is to be the new secretary of Carnforth and District Chamber of Trade, which is chaired by his wife Caroline. The couple, who have been married for 35 years, are passionate about putting Carnforth on the map and run the town's fashion boutique, Kitty Brown.

Stepping into Mr Charnley's shoes as clerk of Carnforth Town Council is Bob Bailey, a grandfather-of-two who lives in Heysham with wife Joanna.

The clerks old and new have taken a walking tour of Carnforth to familiarise Mr Bailey with its geography, from the famous railway station clock and tea rooms, to potholes on the A6 between Market Street and the Tesco supermarket, where repairs are "in the pipeline".

Mr Bailey, who spent 39 years at Lancaster City Council in auditing, told the Gazette: "I'm looking forward to meeting residents and working with members to improve the area. I want to get really involved at a local level, listening to people and their needs and aspirations and building that up."

He is setting up a Twitter account alongside the council's existing Facebook page, and is to spend 20 hours per week at the Market Street offices, where he hopes townsfolk will "just call in and say hello".

With two married daughters and a stepdaughter, Mr Bailey is a keen amateur actor with roles coming up in Kiss Me, Kate and Monty Python's Spamalot this year for the Lancaster and Morecambe Warblers dramatic societies.

Mayor of Carnforth Cllr Pat Wooff said of the new clerk: "I think we've chosen wisely because his knowledge is terrific."

Mr Charnley would be "a great loss" for his loyalty and expertise in law, IT and local government, she said, adding: "It's been a pleasure to know him and I'm going to miss him. He's been my rock this year, being mayor."

Mr Charnley paid tribute to the council, saying: "They are a genuinely lovely bunch of people who I will miss. I've really enjoyed working with them. It's amazing, the fact they do this for no money at all, but they put so much effort into raising Carnforth's profile and making things better."

He said his successor would be "a brilliant town clerk and a real asset to Carnforth".