ELLESMERE'S mayor has paid tribute to the community for its support during Covid-19 after a 'drive-thru' carol service in the town.

The service took place on Sunday, December 19 in Ellesmere and was organised by Cellar Church where a brass band played, religious readings and the congregation in their cars listening on FM radio or watching on YouTube.

Ellesmere Mayor, Councillor Paul Goulbourne, was a lead speaker at the service and he paid tribute to the community for looking out for each other during Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdowns.

Cllr Goulbourne said: "I also want to pay the opportunity to say how proud I am of my fellow citizens who live and work in Ellesmere and the surrounding villages for sticking together and being kind and careful to each other throughout these unprecedented times.

"I think we can all agree the last couple of years has brought its challenges. But it's also shown us the power of communities.

"I want us all to remember and understand the challenges of running businesses in a tourist economy during a pandemic and to encourage hoteliers, guest house owners, landlords and restaurateurs to believe that the next year will be better."

Church leader, Chris Garratt, spoke to the congregation telling those sat down to turn the torch light on their mobile phones on and telling others, who were in their cars, to switch their lights on at full beam.

Mr Garratt said: "Seeing those lights just makes me think of something and I'm going to read to you two verses from the Bible."

Mr Garratt made inferences to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns and added: "I've felt that in the last couple of years, we've been walking through some darkness and some of that has been a world thing, a local thing, a national thing and some of that's been a personal thing.

The rest of the service consisted of Bible readings and prominent carols like Silent Night.