The 31-year-old, Bolton-based stopper arrives following a successful loan spell with Rammy in 2017/18 where he made 21 appearances from January until the end of the season.

A product of the Bolton Wanderers academy, Ashton famously made his first-team debut as a centre forward under the then Bolton manager Sam Allardyce.

From being a regular in the Wanderers reserve side, Ashton went on to FC United of Manchester where he played 187 games, scoring one goal!

Spells at Skelmersdale United and Southport followed before a successful spell with Chorley from 2013.

Last season Ashton returned from a cruciate ligament injury and came to the Rams on loan as part of his rehabilitation.

The announcement that Ashton was not to return to the Magpies ensured there would be a rush for his signature with, as expected, several clubs making their interest known, but after sitting down with manager Mark Fell and hearing of the Rams plans for the future, he put pen-to-paper on a deal at the Riverside.

He told the club`s official website: “I really enjoyed my time at Rammy last season, sure it wasn’t all plain sailing results wise but you can see the nucleus of a really good side here and with a bit more consistency and the rub of the green we’ll not be far off next season. I know the club want to progress and I’m coming here to be part of that – I’m looking forward to getting back in with the lads for pre-season and getting started.”

Manager Mark Fell added: “Sam is a top-class goalkeeper and a great lad who has strong leadership skills, we knew we’d have to wait and see the situation at Chorley and we’re grateful to them for letting Sam come out of loan last season. We’ve two excellent keepers at the club in Sam and Danny Taberner, it’s a position we need to have consistency with that we’ve not had due to injuries so it’s nice to get the backbone of the side sorted early and we can now focus our attention onto new signings”.