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Tributes have been paid to a former mayor who "dedicated 40 years' service" to his borough.

James Shera, who was first elected to Rugby Borough Council in 1982 as a Labour councillor, died while visiting family in Pakistan at the weekend.

Dr Shera, who stood down from the council in 2022, was 76 and leaves a wife a son.

"James Shera, or Jim as we came to know him, was greatly respected by councillors on all sides of the chamber and was also a good friend and mentor to many of his council colleagues," a joint statement by party leaders said.

Dr Shera was born in a village in Pakistan and had hitchhiked through Afghanistan, Iran and Greece before studying at university in Belgium.

He worked as a railway guard in Rugby after coming to England in 1970. He later completed a post-graduate degree at Warwick University and became a teacher.

Dr Shera, who had represented the Benn ward "made history in 1988 when he became the first Pakistani to be elected mayor of Rugby", the authority said.

Four years later he was among the first recipients of the Star of Pakistan, awarded by the country's president for services to community and interfaith relations.

'Hard work and integrity'

Dr Shera, who had worked for Warwickshire education authority until retiring, was made an MBE in 2007.

A decade later he was made an honorary freeman of the borough, the highest honour the council could bestow.

"Jim's hard work and integrity were a constant throughout his 40 years of public service, and we're all truly saddened to hear of his passing," added the statement from Derek Poole (Conservative), Michael Moran (Labour) and Jerry Roodhouse (Liberal Democrats).

The borough's flag will fly at half-mast on the day of his funeral, the date of which is to confirmed.

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