Tributes following death of former Dudley mayor

Bill Cody worked for West Midlands Ambulance Service and served on Dudley Council

Tributes have been paid to a former mayor who died after a short illness.

Bill Cody, who was in his 70s, held the role in Dudley, West Midlands, between 1996 and 1997 and served as a Labour councillor from 1986 to 1998, later returning between 2002 and 2004.

Pete Lowe, current leader of the Labour group said: ''I have never encountered a mayor more energetic and enthusiastic than Bill."

Mr Cody was also a leading figure at West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS).

He joined the service in 1976 and later served as liaison officer with the police and worked in community relations.

He left WMAS in 2013 and Adam Aston, a Dudley councillor and also a paramedic, remembered Mr Cody offered him "words of advice and encouragement" when he was a teenager considering a career with the ambulance service.

Andrea Goddard, current mayor of Dudley, said: "He went above and beyond in serving this borough both as a ward councillor in Netherton and Woodside and later Wordsley, as well as mayor of Dudley."

Mr Lowe said the news of Mr Cody's death came as a shock to the Labour group "as he was active in the party until fairly recently''.

He described him as "an excellent ward councillor, totally dedicated to improving the lives of his constituents". 

This report was compiled by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a partnership between the BBC and regional news organisations to cover news from local authorities and other public service organisations.