'Town mayor would need bodyguard to wear chain'

A town council is set to fork out £5,000 for a new mayoral chain after hearing the original set cannot be worn in public without a bodyguard.

Harrogate Town Council said a cheaper alternative set was needed to replace the existing gold chain, which is encrusted with diamonds, pearls and emeralds.

Councillors voted in favour of the proposal on Wednesday, after the original civic chain was valued at a six-figure sum, which has not been made public.

The mayor of Harrogate, councillor Chris Aldred, said: "The chain was created at a time when they were establishing a council for Harrogate, and there were very rich people doing it who helped them to do it in a certain way."

Aldred, also a Liberal Democrat councillor on North Yorkshire Council, said he "obviously" could not disclose the value of the original chain, but that it was "towards the top of that six-figure range".

The object dates back to 1894 and was previously owned by Harrogate Borough Council, which was abolished in 2023, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council had been quoted £12,000 per year to insure the chain if it was used regularly at events, he added.

"We'd also maybe have to look at having some kind of additional security, so when the mayor goes out, they'd go out with a bodyguard."

Aldred said the original chain would only be used for the mayor-making ceremony and Remembrance Day, because "there will be enough soldiers with guns around to stop anyone making a grab for it".

Instead, the new chain would cost approximately £140 a year to insure, he said.

Following the meeting, North Yorkshire Council member Arnold Warneken argued that the £5,000 should "go to people who need it".

The Green Party councillor for Ouseburn said: "Is it in the interests of the people the town council represents to spend more than £5,000 on a mayoral chain?"

He argued that Harrogate Town Council owning mayoral robes meant the chain was not required.

"It's progress that the council voted to put them on display, but is now perhaps the time, given the cost of living crisis and the fact that some of our community are struggling, to consider selling at least some of the family jewels?"

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