A former town mayor who was the driving force of town twinning in Alton has died.

In a statement, Alton Town Council said: “We are saddened to hear of the death of a former town mayor of Alton, and town councillor, Peter Whitmarsh, on January 17.

“Peter was one of the founder members of twinning our town with Pertuis in France 20 years ago. He was a councillor from 1991 to 2003, and mayor in 1994-95.

“Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.”

In 1995, while town mayor, Cllr Whitmarsh was also the architect of Alton’s first twinning agreement.

He convened a meeting of representatives of organisations interested in twinning Alton with a similar town in Europe, and Montecchio Maggiore in Italy was chosen.