Could you be Chippenham's ace with a mace?

A deputy macebearer is urgently needed for ceremonial occasions in the town, including Remembrance Sunday and the mayor-making ceremony that takes place each May, after a there were no responses to a job advertisement.

Current macebearer Brian Pratt, who lives in Kingsley Road, said there were only two conditions to taking on the role.

“The applicant needs to be from the Chippenham area, and would need to believe in the importance and traditions of the role,” he said.

Mr Pratt, 68, joined the Royal Air Force aged 17 in 1961, training at Bridge North and Melksham before doing a tour with the V-Bombers in East Anglia.

He was stationed in Bahrain from 1964 to 1965, coming back briefly to RAF Lyneham before spending a year at RAF Gan which was in the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean.

He spent time serving in Singapore, returning to Wiltshire to serve at Rudloe Manor, before finishing his career at the age of 40 at Hullavington as a sergeant and balloon crew chief.

Mr Pratt said: “I’m ex-forces, but the new macebearer wouldn’t need to be. We just want someone committed to the job.

“After serving in the forces, I worked for a company in Devizes as a lorry driver, retiring last March, though on the Monday I started my new role as a consultant for the company.”

Mr Pratt served as a deputy macebearer for ten years to George Langley, who retired at the age of 80, and took on the role in November last year.

He said: “If I couldn’t make it to one of the events, we’d need someone to stand in, and it’s nice to have someone to share the role with.”

The macebearer would have served the mayor as a bodyguard hundreds of years ago.

Sir John Neeld, a former MP for Chippenham, presented the town council with the current mace in the 1850s. It is made of silver and can only be handled with white gloves in order to prevent burnishing.

To apply, for the role or for more information, contact Mary Laing at Chippenham Town Council on (01249) 446699.