She has received praise from across the pond for her business-minded approach to the opening of a new tattoo parlour in the town.

The plaudits came on an American internet site which detailed a story about the mayor of Columbus, Nebraska, who had told the owner of a new tattoo shop in his town that he and other businesses in the building “didn’t want him or his rif-raf clientele” there.

After a public outburst, the mayor was forced into an apology, but his behaviour led to comparisons with that of Ms Trippett-Jones who recently officiated at the opening ceremony of Bliss, Diss’ newest tattoo shop.

One contributor to the website commented: “Cheers to Mayor Jane Trippett-Jones, would love to see more like her in the US”.

Bliss Tattoo Studio also added its own comment: “The Mayor was brilliant, stayed at the studio for two hours and even wrote a press release for us.”

Ms Trippett-Jones, who coincidentally was enjoying a family visit to America when the comments were posted on the net, said on her return to Diss this week: “It was a strange irony coming back from the USA to see myself noted on a US website, doing my bit to promote Diss!”