Italian town joins mayor on walks to lose weight blamed on his ‘convivial obligations’

Luciano Fregonese is taking brisk walks with local people after winning an election in June

An Italian mayor who says that years in the job have made him overweight is taking weekly brisk walks with the town’s people in an effort to shed the kilos.

Luciano Fregonese, 47, won a third mandate as mayor of Valdobbiadene, a town in the northern Veneto region, in June, on a promise to take better care of his physical health and try to get back to the 90kg (14st 2lb) he weighed when elected for the first time a decade ago.