Councillor Rekha Shah has been elected Harrow Council's first ever Asian female mayor.

The Wealdstone ward Labour councillor was welcomed as the Council's 64th mayor at its full council meeting on May 17.

Cllr Shah has chosen Parkinson's UK and Harrow Bereavement Care as this year's mayor's chosen charities and will also be championing organ donations from the Asian community.

She said: "I am honoured to have been elected the new Mayor of Harrow and Harrow’s first Asian woman mayor.

"I’d like to thank everyone in putting their trust in me. I now look forward to meeting residents, organisations and community groups that make Harrow such a great place to live and work.

“I also want to also use my role to highlight the need to support our most vulnerable people and would like to encourage everyone to look out for one another during tough times.

"I hope that you will all support my chosen charities for this year.”

Cllr Shah has also chosen to have five chaplains from major faiths to reflect the borough's religious diversity, including Rabbi Kalthleen Middleton, Dr Vinod Kapashi, His Grace Srutidharma Das, Father James Power and Professor Imam Hafiz Muhammad Akram.