“This town has given me my life, my home and a lot more. It’s time to give back.”

These are the humble words of a man who arrived in the UK in the 1980s, wandering the streets of High Wycombe as a stranger – no-one knowing his name.

Thirty years later and he is set to become one of the best known faces of the community when he is officially appointed as mayor of High Wycombe this weekend.

Conservative councillor for the Wycombe district, Zia Ahmed, is in no doubt of how much of a privilege it is to be selected as the new town mayor – a historic role spanning 800 years.

Speaking to the 47-year-old across the coffee table at his home in Sands – filled with tea, samosas and biscuits kindly prepared by his family, who insisted we helped ourselves – he cannot hide the wide smile which comes across his face every time we speak about taking on the role and being officially “weighed-in” on Saturday.

“When I walked here thirty years ago, no-one knew me and it’s going to be totally different for me to be the mayor of this town. Of course, I’m very excited,” he said.

“This town gave me everything. It is my home.”

A tradition spanning decades will see Cllr Ahmed, his wife Robina and sons Fizan (27) and Miran (20) – plus new deputy mayor Cllr Maz Hussain – greet the many people lining the streets from the Guildhall to Frogmoor on Saturday before he takes to the throne-like weighing scales for the annual ‘mayor making’ ceremony.

Dressed-up in the ceremonial robes and chains handed over by current mayor, Cllr Mohammed Hanif, it will be a special moment in Zia’s life and represent a big change from the 17-year-old boy who headed to High Wycombe from his birthplace of Mirpur, Kashmir, in 1986.

He said: “It’s a very important role. You represent the whole of Wycombe, you don’t represent one community, you represent the whole of Wycombe.

“Every single religion, every single culture is a part of what we do.”

One of his first official duties is to be weighed-in, something he admits to being slightly nervous about.

The ancient custom sees town dignitaries publicly weighed, with eager crowds welcomed to jeer if that person has put on weight since the previous year.

However, as mayor of the town there is an added pressure, with public disapproval – in the way of loud booing – coming their way if they put on weight during their one year in the role – seen as an overindulgence at the taxpayer’s expense.

One thing we can be certain of though, is that he will give it his best shot as he starts his bid to unite all of the community.

The former Sunday League High Wycombe Cricket Club player will be joined by dozens of relatives and many other unknown faces from around the country on Saturday as he steps up the plate for a job he has been subconsciously preparing from since his first days in the town.