Tim Adams, the Lib Dem leader of North Norfolk District Council, said he is no longer confident the plan to hand the region its own mayoralty will ever materialise.

When asked directly whether he was confident the mayor would be put in place, he said: "No, I'm not."

Tim Adams, the leader of North Norfolk District Council, has said he is no longer confident the region will get a mayor (Image: NNDC)

The government plans to create an equivalent role for Norfolk and Suffolk as that currently filled by metro mayors in other parts of the country, for instance Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester.

The two counties were initially set to go to the polls last month to elect their first 'manure mayor', as the role has been dubbed for rural East Anglia.

However, the government pushed the vote back to 2028 saying more time was needed to allow for the reorganisation of local councils,........

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