Hartlepool residents are eagerly waiting to see if new mayor H'Angus the Monkey will deliver on his 'free bananas for schoolchildren' pledge.

H'Angus, aka Stuart Drummond, 28, is the official mascot for Hartlepool United FC, and saw off all-comers – despite Labour leader Charles Clarke shunning Drummond for 'ridiculing' the system.

The 28-year-old is infamous for hi-jinks. As a mascot, he simulated sex with a female steward in Scunthorpe and an inflatable doll in Blackpool.

Drummond, who now plans to quit monkeying around, said: 'It is going to be a positive step forward for Hartlepool.' Primary teacher Mrs Brown approved: 'H'Angus is offering a replacement for the free milk Thatcher snatched away from children in the 1980s.' However, Drummond seems to be reneging on his 'free bananas' promise, he has now become a serious politician with pledges ranging from anti-crime issues to saving youth centres. He even told the Guardian: 'I'm deadly serious now'. So were his constituents – they are still banking on free fruit.

Hartlepool is famous for hanging a monkey during the Napoleonic wars, fearing it to be a French spy. l

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