15366/3GAZETTE & HERALD: CHIPPENHAM Mayor Ross Henning was handcuffed and whisked away in a police car on Thursday accused of wearing his civic chains in inappropriate circumstances.

The builder was arrested shortly after 9am at Travis Perkins in Sheldon Road by two police officers who read him his rights before putting him behind bars.

The mayor was one of six 'felons' to be arrested as part of a 'jail and bail' campaign to raise money for the £10million Forever Friends Appeal that aims to buy state of the art equipment for Bath's Royal United Hospital.

The aim of the stunt was for the inmates to get their friends, family and colleagues to stump up the bail money and release them from jail.

Others to be arrested were Jane Williams from Barclays Bank in Chippenham, who broke into a piggy bank; Ken Saul from Anthony Rowe Ltd, who kidnapped his son's teddy bear; Jim Dutch from Straker and Co for moonlighting as Bob the Builder; Ann Helmore from Whitehall Garden Centre for cruelty and neglect of plants, and Carol Karlstad of The Pheasant Inn who was arrested for being too young to be a grandmother.

Nina Rack, from the Forever Friends Appeal, said: "Everybody's entered into the spirit of the day so I'm really pleased."