WHEN he became a Worcester city councillor at the tender age of 23, Simon Geraghty was not the youngest ward councillor in Britain. He wasn't even the youngest-ever Worcester councillor.

But three years after his election, the ward member for St Clement's has been made the youngest deputy leader of any council in Britain.

The 26-year-old full-time councillor was born and bred in Worcester and in the local elections in 2000 - the year the Conservatives took control in the city for the first time in two decades - he was elected to serve the area in which he has lived all his life.

He decided to become involved because he felt the city was in need of change.

"It is easy to moan about things but you have to stick your head above the parapet and say 'I am willing to tackle this' or nothing will get done," he said.

Coun Geraghty is part of a new wave of young councillors who have significantly brought down the average age of members on the city council - five of the city's 36 councillors are under 35.

He believes having more younger members makes the council more representative of the population it serves.

"Comparative youth also means a greater willingness to change," he said. "It's a matter of being able to identify with the aspirations of voters."

The politics graduate believes it is also significant that his St Clement ward includes the University College Worcester campus, where more than 500 students are eligible to vote.

"There is something satisfying for them being able to talk to someone whose own student days were just a few short years before theirs," he said.

As council deputy leader, he said he would be pushing forward the Tory administration's aims of making Worcester a "leaner, greener and cleaner" city.

As for his own future, Coun Geraghty has his eyes firmly fixed on the Commons.

"I would love to represent Worcester in Parliament and hope, at some time in the future, to get myself on the selection list," he said.

"But there are a lot of opportunities to do things at the council for now. I want to get a greater depth of experience behind me."