An outgoing South Hams mayor took a parting shot at online critics as he handed over the reins of power.

Passing the chain of office to Cllr Rob Lyon, the now ex-mayor of Dartmouth, Cllr Richard Cooke, said that during his year as chairman of the council he had “survived the attacks of Facebook warriors” and a number of ex-mayors “who wished to give me their advice whether I asked for it or not”.

He added: “As a result of this, as you will be hearing in a moment, the town council in their wisdom have voted me out, so we are now going to elect a new mayor.

“We’re going to pass the baton over to Rob and Di [mayoress], who are now on their comeback tour,” explained Cllr Cooke, who chaired the meeting to elect Cllr Lyon for his fourth term as town mayor on Tuesday evening.

Cllr Rob Lyon was proposed by Cllr David Gent at the mayor-making ceremony held at the Guildhall in Dart­mouth.

Cllr Gent said it was the third time he had been asked to nominate Cllr Lyon.

He said: “When I nominated him for the first time, it was for his second period in office and I mentioned how him and the mayoress had just come back from Dartmouth, Massachusetts.”

Cllr Gent explained: “I said they had been even more popular than the Beatles on their tour of the United States.”

He added that he later regretted what he had said, recalling how a few weeks later, a woman approached him and asserted that the mayor of Dartmouth was “not more popular than the Beatles” – to the amusement of the public attending this week’s ceremony.

On a more serious note, Cllr Gent said Cllr Lyon had previously been a very good mayor. He asked the councillors and members of the public to look around the council chamber to appreciate the refurbishment Cllr Lyon had overseen. He said: “He saw this through and came to the end on time and under budget – sell that idea to the Government and see what they can do about it.”

After retiring for a short while to change into official robes, the mayor-elect returned and thanked councillors and council staff. before outlining his priorities for the next year.

Cllr Lyon said the issue of the health facilities in Dart­mouth needed to be “addressed very seriously” and the council would do everything in its power to “try to ensure that the health facilities go ahead and are looked after”.

He added: “We also want to look into affordable rented housing and jobs for the people who rent and buy the houses that are going to be built at North Park.

“We really need to bring the population of Dartmouth up, for the people who are living here full time. That’s one of the reasons, because that has dropped that we have had problems with the health facilities – the NHS don’t think there is enough people here.

“One thing that is dear to my heart is the loss to this town of the Little Cotton caravan park.”

He said it had brought lots of visitors to the town.

The mayor-elect explained that with those people not coming anymore, the businesses in the town were not being as well supported.

Cllr Tessa de Galleani proposed Cllr Fred Pritchard-Tagg for deputy mayor and vice chairman of the council for the coming year.

Fr Will Hazlewood was appointed council chaplain.

Before the official proceedings had begun, Cllr Cooke said that due to the number of councillors in attendance, all decisions regarding appointment of mayor and deputy mayor would need to be confirmed at the full council meeting the following evening.

Father Will Hazlewood was appointed as the Dartmouth Town Council Chaplain.

The changes were approved by the full council on Wednesday evening, although another vote for mayor was called after Cllr Paul Allen proposed Cllr Sue Thomson but she was defeated by seven votes to three, with one abstention.