THE people of Tenby are being urged to use the face-to-face approach rather than Facebook when criticising the town council.

Recent months have seen “negative comments” about the authority and individual members, new deputy mayor Councillor Christine Brown said this week.

The remarks have featured on social media - “or should I say, anti-social media” said Councillor Brown.

“Everyone is entitled to constructive criticism but the abuse sometimes gets too much.

“If a person has a comment to make, don’t use Facebook - come and talk to us.

“We are always available, particularly the mayor.”

Councillor Brown was speaking out at Tenby’s annual mayor-making ceremony on Friday, when Councillor Sue Lane took office for the second year in succession and the ninth time in her 30 years on Tenby Town Council.

Councillor Lane, who will be the 629th mayor in Tenby’s history, was praised by her proposer, Councillor Tish Rossiter, for her “drive and enthusiasm”.

She added: “She is very hard to keep up with at times and is a great ambassador for Tenby.”

Last year, in the face of financial cuts, the mayor pledged ‘Tenby is the best, and only the best for Tenby’ when she took office, and this year she continued her theme.

“In the current economic climate, there is no money in the pot,” she told guests at the civic reception which followed the ceremony “Tenby must not settle for the mediocre. We must up our game, and we need people with not just ideas, but the ability to carry out those ideas. We must all work together and raise our standards and make the most of our town.”

Councillor Lane’s daughter, Sian Waters, will be her mayoress, while the mayor’s chaplain will be Father Michael Fewell.

Reappointed were the mayoral ‘bodyguard’ of town crier Jim Cornwell and mace-bearers, Rev John Morgan and Denise Cousins.