TRIBUTES flooded in for West Somerset Council's outgoing chairman Cllr Eddie May when he was given an unprecedented send-off after three years in the post.

As he handed over the ceremonial chain of office to new chairman Cllr Tony Knight on Wednesday, Cllr May was swamped with praise and even a personal gift from the council's senior managers.

Traditionally, chairmen serve only one year in the civic post before handing over the reins to another councillor.

But Cllr May held the office for three consecutive years, representing the authority at hundreds of events both locally and further afield.

Cllr Knight said Cllr May had been an "exemplary chairman", while re-elected council leader Cllr Tim Taylor was also full of praise for "the mighty May".

"I really have to thank Eddie for his dedication to this position and his support of local organisations over the last three years," Cllr Knight said.

Cllr Taylor said Cllr May had been a quality chairman throughout the last three years, being both good humoured and supportive in council meetings and providing a positive presence to both councillors and staff.

Adrian Dyer, the council's chief executive, said Cllr May had played a pivotal role in the authority's "dramatic journey of improvement".

"It was vital we had a strong chairmanship as the council was asked to make some serious decisions," he said.

"I have never known in my 36 years of local government the chairmanship rest with the same person for three consecutive years.

"Your chairmanship made my life a lot easier."

Mr Dyer presented Cllr May with a cut glass decanter and glass as a personal gift from the council's senior management team.

Cllr May, as ever, remained a man of few words and simply stuck to the business in hand: "I have enjoyed my three years and tried to do my best. Thank you very much," he said.

There was praise, too, for Cllr Taylor, who was described as a strong leader by outgoing leader of the Independent opposition group, Cllr Keith Ross.

Cllr Taylor said he was honoured to retain the leader's role and said he would do all he could to ensure the council was run for the benefit of West Somerset residents.

"It is particularly encouraging that we have a high quality of councillors in both the Conservative and Independent groups," he said.

"All councillors will work together to ensure that we provide efficient, value for money services and listen to and communicate with the people and organisations of West Somerset.

"Our major challenges remain the perilous state of the council's finances and responding to EDF's application to build two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point."

While Cllr Taylor leads both the council and the ruling Conservative group, Cllr Ian Melhuish has taken over from Cllr Ross as leader of the Independent and Labour opposition group.

The annual meeting also saw Cllr Doug Ross appointed as deputy chairman, while Cllr Chris Morgan was again given the role of deputy council leader.

The council's cabinet remained unchanged from the previous year with Cllrs David Sanders, Keith Turner, Steven Pugsley, Dave Westcott and Kate Kravis joining Cllrs Taylor and Morgan on the executive committee.

As well as being council chairman, Cllr Knight retained the role of planning committee chairman, with Cllr Melhuish as his deputy.

Accepting the chairmanship of the council, Cllr Knight said it was a privilege to be asked - but warned he expected all members to show their full commitment to the authority.

"Everyone in this council is equal," he said. "You can all influence decisions and I don't want to hear at the end of my term that we haven't see councillor so and so this year. We are all part of a team.

"Looking around the chamber, I think we are going to have a good council this coming year."

Of the 28 seats on the council, half have been filled by new faces, with 19 held by the Conservatives, the Independents have seven and Labour has two.

* APPOINTMENTS made by West Somerset Council at its annual meeting on Wednesday:

Cabinet - Cllr Dave Sanders, lead member for regeneration and economic growth (shadow portfolio holder Cllr Keith Ross); Cllr Keith Turner, lead member for housing, environmental health and licensing (shadow portfolio holder Cllr Andrew Hadley); Cllr Steven Pugsley, lead member for executive support and democracy (shadow portfolio holder Cllr Peter Murphy); Cllr Dave Westcott, lead member for community and customer (shadow portfolio holder Cllr Eddie May); Cllr Tim Taylor, leader and lead member for performance and corporate support (shadow portfolio holder Cllr Ian Melhuish); Cllr Chris Morgan, deputy leader and lead member for environment (shadow portfolio holder Cllr Jon Freeman); Cllr Kate Kravis, lead member for resources and central support (shadow portfolio holder Cllr Doug Ross).

Scrutiny committee - Cllrs Keith Ross (chairman), Richard Lillis (vice chairman), Stuart Dowding, Alec Chick, Paul Grierson, Mandy Chilcott, Martin Dewdney, Jon Freeman, Doug Ross.

Planning committee - Cllrs Tony Knight (chairman), Ian Melhuish (vice chairman), Steven Pugsley, Keith Turner, Tim Taylor, Stuart Dowding, Chris Morgan, Bruce Heywood, Anthony Trollope-Bellew, Les Smith, Karen Mills, Andrew Hadley, Eddie May, Doug Ross, Maureen Smith.

Licensing committee - Cllrs Hugh Davies (chairman), Dave Westcott (vice chairman), David Sanders, Paul Grierson, Martin Dewdney, Les Smith, Alex Chick, Richard Lillis, Sue Goss, Andrew Hadley, Eddie May.

Audit committee - Cllrs Anthony Trollope-Bellew (chairman), Eddie May (vice chairman), Sue Goss, Mandy Chilcott, Richard Lillis, Karen Mills, Peter Murphy. The appointment of independent member Vincent Woods was held in abeyance to consider whether the post was needed, whether appointments should be time-limited or advertised regularly as Mr Woods had served on the committee for three years unchallenged.

Local development panel - Cllrs Keith Turner (chairman), Chris Morgan (vice chairman), Tony Knight, Bruce Heywood, Sue Goss, Keith Ross, Ian Melhuish, Maureen Smith.

Standards committee - non-councillors and independent members Tim Evans (chairman), Ivan Gunn and Malcolm Parslow, with district, parish and town councillors Hugh Davies, Paul Grierson, Dave Westcott, Sally de Renzy-Martin, John Davis, John Sawyer.