THE niece of a former Colchester mayor has received an official portrait of her uncle thanks to the efforts of her ward councillors.

Penny Pitchford, of King George Road, in Shrub End, was speaking to her councillor, Dave Harris, when she mentioned her family did not have a portrait of her late uncle, Frank Wilkin.

Mr Wilkin had been a well-known councillor in Colchester and went on to serve as Colchester’s mayor from 1980 to 1981.

Having themselves known the late Mr Wilkin, councillors Mr Harris and Chris Pearson arranged for a copy of the official portrait taken of Frank Wilkin when he was sworn in as Colchester mayor in October 1980.

Their efforts led to their presenting of the portrait to Mrs Pitchford.

Mr Harris said: “Penny remembers her uncle very fondly but he died eight years ago, and I was a friend of his.

“She said her uncle Frank was brilliant for this town and used to have a picture of him before it got mislaid.

“She was very positive about him, so I got it framed and got an inscription made and she was quite emotional about it – she loved [the gesture].”