Councillors in Wem have been told by the leader of Shropshire Council: ‘Submit your ideas and I’ll work hard to see them through’.

Councillor Peter Nutting, who was elected leader of Shropshire Council at 2017's local elections, stopped off at Wem's full council meeting on Thursday night as part of his tour of market towns.

Cllr Nutting set out the work his council have been carrying out since May 2017 and encouraged councillors in Wem to pitch good ideas on how to boost the town and make Shropshire Council money.

"I don’t care where I can invest £100 m," he said. "I hope you can come up with good ideas in Wem and can plan for a return of around eight per cent, then great.

"I hope you can do that. Show me the schemes and the ideas and we’ll look at them. I don’t mind doing small projects too but not tiddly ones – Wem isn’t ‘tiddly’. Show me a scheme and I’ll try hard to deliver it."

He added: "I'm working my way around market towns in the county and realising what a divert county it is.

"(When I became leader) I didn’t think the culture and response to outsiders of the council was great and am setting out to change that mindset among staff.

"I want a no blame culture there too. Shropshire has a poor employment level, low-paid low skill jobs. We need to create better jobs and an higher standard of living.

"It's full of old codgers and we have to get the ages down in the population. Younger people paying in will bring in more money.

"Plus there’s a financial hole in the council. At least by two years time we should break even, and hopefully by end of my four-year term to have balanced the budget."

Cllr Nutting also offered to return to Wem for a frank and informal meeting on how parking has affected the town.