Ipswich mayor Jan Parry has stood down from the role and the council because of family reasons.

Mrs Parry, who chaired last week's full meeting of the council, which was held online, has been mayor of the town since May 2019.

She was due to hand over the mayoral chain last May, but the lockdown which forced the cancellation of all physical meetings of the authority meant that she was asked to carry on in the role until May this year.

When she became mayor, with her husband Nick as mayor's consort, Mrs Parry wrote herself into the town's history books - she is the first daughter of a former mayor, Gillian Auton, who held the role in 1986-87, to become the town's first citizen.

She has been a member of the borough council since 2018, when she took the Holywells seat from the Conservatives.

She was due to remain on the council until 2022 but there will now be a by-election on the day of the next local council elections, currently scheduled for May 6.

Mrs Parry is having to look after a family member and feels she is unable to give the attention to her council work that it needs.

Deputy mayor Jane Riley, who was mayor in 2018-19, will take on her remaining duties before a new mayor is elected after this year's council elections.

Holywells Ward still has two borough councillors - Conservative Liz Harsant and Labour's Barry Studd - who residents can contact for council help.

Ipswich council leader David Ellesmere paid tribute to Mrs Parry.

He said: "I’d like to put on record my thanks to Jan for her service to Ipswich.

"We were very grateful that she agreed to step up and extend her term as mayor to see the town through the early stages of our response to the Covid crisis.

"She successfully managed to adapt the role of the mayor to the changed circumstances caused by the virus.

"We wish Jan and her family well in the future."