A PLAQUE has been unveiled in honour of a former Lord Mayor of York.

Hugh Bayley, MP for York Central, joined Brenda Brooking, daughter of Jack Archer, and the three ward councillors for Holgate, Couns James Alexander, Sonja Crisp and Denise Bowgett, to unveil the plaque on a bench in West Bank Park in memory of Jack and his wife, who both died this year.

Mr Bayley said: “He served York in so many ways, as a Labour councillor, as an honorary alderman and not forgetting his two spells as Lord Mayor of York.”

As well as being Lord Mayor twice, Coun Archer was also councillor for Holgate ward and received the MBE in 2004. He died, aged 90, last March.

Coun Sonja Crisp said: “We miss Jack very much and wanted to have a permanent memorial in the park where he came with Ena.

“Although he was dedicated to Ena, he still found time to work tirelessly for a better York for older people and for his beloved Holgate.”

Brenda Brooking said: “I would also like to thank the Labour councillors for Holgate and everyone in York Labour Party for all their hard work in helping to keep my parents’ memory alive in York. I hope people will get great pleasure from sitting on the bench admiring the view. If he were here, today my dad would be saying ‘I don’t know what all the fuss is about’.”