CAN you unravel this headline conundrum?

The answer is that Countdown host Richard Whiteley is mayor of Wetwang, the Wolds village with a name usually greeted with laughter and disbelief.

The Channel Four celebrity was joined by TV crews as he was invested as the village's first mayor amid rapturous cheering from proud locals.

Mr Whiteley, 54, was invited to take office after joking about becoming mayor on his daytime quiz show, which askes contestants to solve conundrums and compile words from a jumble of letters.

Tickled by his interest in the village, until now famous only for "being on the road to Brid" and inspiring countless smirks, a handful of its 500 residents began bombarding him with correspondence.

And when he began reading extracts from the parish newsletter, the Wetwang Tatler, on air, secretary of the Wetwang School Association Jane Craig decided to pen him a letter offering him the civic position.

To her surprise, Mr Whiteley accepted and 10 days later he was invested in a ceremony outside the village's 150-year-old primary school.

Parish Council chairman George Main, who presented the chain of office - on loan from Driffield Town Council -- said the day would go down as one of the most historic in 300 years of parish records.

"This has really put Wetwang in the spotlight. It is absolutely first class," he said.

Meanwhile Mr Whiteley, who says he was attracted to the village because "Wetwang is my kind of word", is already planning his year in office.

"I intend to take my duties very seriously. Most people never get to be mayor and it is a great honour. I have achieved something which even Jeffrey Archer might not manage," he said.

The former Calendar news reader also pledged to return for the village fair in July and its annual sleigh ride at Christmas.

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