COUNCILLOR Steve Waltho's first official engagement as the new Mayor of Dudley was a tour of Dudley Building Society's revamped Brierley Hill branch.

Cllr Waltho and his wife Jayne, the Mayoress, stopped off at the Brierley Hill High Street branch which has undergone an extensive refurbishment to bring it up-to-date.

The branch is the society's third to be given a brand new interior which includes an open plan feel, a pod for quick queries to save customers visiting the counter - and a six-foot tall sculpture of a man made from pieces of recycled cutlery created by artist Ed Cartwright.

Jeremy Wood, chief executive of Dudley Building Society, said: "We are proud of our strong foundations that have been a part of the local area for over 150 years but see the importance of continuous investment to remain at the forefront of our sector.

"What we have created is something very different and I would urge anyone to take a look at our Dudley, Gornal and Brierley Hill branches to see just how different we are from every other financial institution."

Cllr Waltho, Mayor of Dudley, said of the visit on May 27: "The new look branch is lovely and the society should be commended on its investment in the High Street."

The new Mayor will be raising funds for The Hope Centre in Halesowen, Stourbridge’s What? Centre, Brierley Hill-based More Mascots Please, The Georgina Unit for cancer sufferers at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, and the West Midlands branch of Lupus UK, based in Coseley during his year in office.

He said: “I’ve gone for one in each township area in the hope that members of the community will feel a bit more ownership of the mayor’s fund.”

The 59-year-old councillor, who represents the St Thomas’s ward on Dudley Council, has over the years already raised thousands for the Mayor’s charities by completing an array of gutsy fundraising feats including cross country hikes, runs and cycling events – and he has no plans to ditch his charity challenges during his year as the borough’s first citizen.

Cllr Waltho, who lives in Kingswinford and works at Oldbury based Solvay chemical firm, said: “I won’t stop doing these things because I’m in this position.”

And he’s already pondering how he will be able to officially start and run in the Action Heart Five-Mile Road Race next February and is working up plans to scale Ben Nevis once again in August in tribute to Dudley peace campaigner Bert Bissell.