AN MBE has given a cancer victim a much-needed boost in her fight for recovery.

Benita Moore, who is battling against cancer in Blackburn Hospice, has received the MBE in the Birthday Honours list.

She said from her hospital bed this weekend: "Coming to have treatment for the cancer is not the best of the things and it has really knocked me back, but this award has given me a boost.

It has given me something to aim for and helped me on the road to recovery to some extent."

Benita, who has written 11 books and poetry volumes about the days of cloth caps and horse-drawn carts in Lancashire, is "flabbergasted" at receiving the honour.

"I just couldn't believe it. There are far more deserving people than me. "I would like to share this award with all of the people who I interviewed during the course of writing my books. I would like to thank them all."

Benita, who is married to Gordon and has two daughters, is "extremely honoured" to be made an MBE and hopes to be fit to go down to London to collect her accolade which is in recognition for her work recording the memories of Lancashire people.

Benita, of Rising Bridge Road, Haslingden, has undergone two mastectomies but the breast cancer has spread to the rest of her body.

The 59-year-old who has appeared on TV and radio and has won a prestigious heritage award for her work, is hoping to be well enough for a double celebration to mark her 60th birthday in July and her MBE.

A member of Accrington Cine Club and Oswaldtwistle Civic Society she works in the local studies department of Accrington Library, and has been a librarian for 43 years.

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