West Norfolk's new mayor will start their year in office with a climate change protest.

Activists from the Extinction Rebellion group will be attending Thursday's full council meeting in King's Lynn on Thursday night, when the borough's new mayor and deputy mayor will be elected.

Today the council confirmed it was aware of the protest, as the group had tagged it into postings on social media.

Dr Charlie Gardner, from Extinction Rebellion, said: "As a low-lying coastal borough, West Norfolk is one of the most vulnerable places in the UK to climate change, and in particular sea level rise. This not only threatens much of the UK's most valuable agricultural land, but the historical city of King's Lynn itself. Yet still our leaders do nothing.

"In response, we have recently formed an Extinction Rebellion King's Lynn and West Norfolk group to demand our leaders take urgent action." Protestors will call on the council to join the almost 100 local authorities, including neighbouring North Norfolk, which have so far declared an emergency.

Extinction Rebellion claims a predicted 4C rise in temperatures by the end of the century will prove "incompatible with organised human society".

More than 1,000 activists were arrested as demonstrators brought parts of central London to a standstill for 10 days last month.

Four were arrested after staging a four-hour protest at a Norfolk County Council meeting in Norwich in February. Three were cautioned and one was charged with a public order offence.

The meeting, at Lynn Town Hall, is expected to elect Geoff Hipperson as mayor and Margaret Wilkinson as deputy. Mr Hipperson did not wish to comment.

Elected to the borough council in 1999, Mr Hipperson is a former cabinet member for the environment and has also served on the resources and environmental panels and the planning committee.

He has also helped with the opening of the King's Arms community pub in his home village of Shouldham, and is a member of the management team.