COLCHESTER mayor Tim Young is set to marry his mayoress at Colchester Castle.

The 61-year-old announced at the annual oyster feast at Colchester Town Hall he will wed Nicola Goodchild, known by many as a popular Mary Poppins tribute actress, in February.

The wedding service will mean that, for once, Mr Young will be attending an event in a personal, rather than civic, capacity and won’t have to be dressed to the nines in traditional mayoral regalia.

He is the first mayor in living memory to be married while in office and, fittingly, met Ms Goodchild at Colchester Town Hall when filming a sketch for the Colchester Comedy Festival.

He recalled: “I was dressed in councillors’ robes holding two tickling sticks, and Nicola had an auburn wig on.”

Despite the landmark wedding service, Mr Young said he will only be setting a few days aside from his public duties before he enters the final three months of his one year mayoral term.

He said: “We are doing some preparations but we are not preparing to take a honeymoon or anything like that.”

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He added: “We thought the town hall was a bit close to home [as a wedding venue] – we want to make it something special.”

Mr Young became Colchester’s 189th mayor earlier this year and is now halfway through his term.

Although he has been a councillor for 30 years, he said he hopes to make it to 31 years at the next set of elections.

“It depends on whether I win my seat again after the election but I want to take as full a role as I can [in local politics].

“Hopefully we will find time after the elections next year to have a break somewhere.”

That being said, both he and Ms Goodchild are certainly enjoying the intensity of their roles despite Mr Young's previous reluctance to be mayor.

He said: “We are absolutely revelling in it – I don’t think anyone can prepare you for how fill on it is.

“We have had the jubilee, the announcement of city status, and the sad death of the Queen – it’s been more of a responsibility than we thought, but it’s a huge honour and privilege.”

The next major items in the mayor’s diary will be the Remembrance Sunday service and, following invitation from Colchester Hospital, both Tim Young and his future wife will see newborns on Christmas Day.

Events will continue into the new year, before Mr Young’s term concludes in May.