THE mayor of Westbury swapped his chain of office for handcuffs and a police car on Friday evening.

Cllr Horace Prickett shadowed Westbury police officers throughout the night to learn more about the town.

Although it was a quiet night Cllr Prickett walked the beat in the town centre and was involved in a number of calls to Bratton and Warminster.

He said: "It was very enlightening to see exactly what the police forces do in Westbury. I was very impressed with the response times, we could be in Warminster or Bratton within minutes.

"With the debate over late licences for pubs in the Market Place it was also important to get firsthand experience of the problems after closing time."

There are eight officers at Westbury police station and the force often pool resources and staff with Warminster.

Next the mayor plans to shadow a postman as part of a drive to see what is going on in the town.