THE mayor of a Gwent town says he and his fraudster lover are determined to make a life together after she was released from jail on licence yesterday.

Chepstow mayor Alun Fuller is offering his resignation to the town council tonight over his affair with convicted fraudster Julie Mason, 38, jailed for three months for frauds totalling more than £35,000 when she appeared before Newport magistrates in February.

Mason, an undertaker from Caldicot, was said to have traumatised grieving relatives after defrauding her estranged husband and Robert Powell and Sons funeral directors.

She admitted three charges of theft, one of obtaining services by deception, four of obtaining money by deception and two of forgery with intent to defraud.

But yesterday, as Mr Fuller welcomed her home on licence, the couple (pictured) said her three weeks in prison made their love even stronger.

Mr Fuller, 48, has left his second wife Penny and is now looking for a house in Chepstow to share with Mason, who wants to find a new job. "We are an item. We are closer and stronger and we realise what we have got. When it was taken away from us we appreciated it a lot more. I can see there's a future for us."

Mr Fuller said his love for Mason comes before his role as the town's leader, and he awaits a council decision on his future at the meeting tonight. He offered his resignation after it was publicly revealed that he was having an affair with Mason, but added: "I hope the council will allow me to finish my remaining eight weeks as mayor. I've done nothing wrong."

Mason is being electronically tagged and placed under a 12-hour curfew for two weeks. The couple are renting a house at Acacia Avenue, Undy.

They met through Mason's daughter in May last year, when Mason had split from her undertaker husband.

Mr Fuller was not aware she faced charges until the trial loomed. He said the couple would now discuss what happened and he would try to understand her actions. Mr Fuller split up from his second wife and Chepstow mayoress, Penny, three times before deciding to make a go of things with Mason last month. He said: "Julie and I are not going to hide away. We are going shopping on Friday and if people want to pass comment they can do so.

"She didn't know how I would react when she first went inside. She thought I would walk away. She was shocked when I phoned and said I was coming to visit."

Mason wrote to him every day and he visited her in prison three times, and she said Mr Fuller's love helped her get through the ordeal.

Yesterday she said: "I am really sorry for any distress I have caused. It was the stress of the marriage that made me do it. Prison was worse than I imagined it could be. I don't ever want to go back in. I spent most of the time crying. I don't think Alun should have to resign. He's done nothing wrong."