ONE of the first nurses in the country to be appointed chief executive of a health trust has been named Lancashire Woman of the Year.

She beat off competition from five East Lancashire women to walk away with the prestigious award.

Gloria Oates OBE, of Stubbins, near Ramsbottom, said her hands were shaking when she stepped up to receive the award at a ceremony at the Stirk House Hotel, Gisburn.

The former nurse and midwife held posts at every level in the health profession, before being appointed nursing officer for the Salford Health Authority.

She joined an elite group of only four nurses in the country to be appointed chief executive of a health trust when she joined the board at the Rochdale NHS Trust in 1992.

She has performed numerous public duties during her career and has been chairman of the Board of Governors at Oldham Sixth Form College since 2000.

She is Pro-Chancellor of the University of Central Lancashire and served as High Sheriff of Lancashire from 2001 to 2002.

The mum-of-five was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire in 1996 and awarded an OBE for services to healthcare in 2000.

She was praised by competition judges for her warm and witty personality and dedication to her family and profession.

She said: "I'm overwhelmed.

"Receiving the award was a moving and emotional experience, and when I stepped up to receive it my hands were shaking."

The presentation ceremony was attended by nearly 300 guests, including five East Lancashire nominees, four from from the Ribble Valley and one from Blackburn.

Penny Green, of Sawley, was nominated for her charity fund-raising work. She is the chairman of the Ribble Valley Ladies' Luncheon Club, which has raised over £250,000 for research into childhood cancer from a series of speaker and celebrity dinners.

Gisburn businesswoman Helen Colley, founder of award-winning pudding manufacturer Farmhouse Fayre, was nominated for her entrepreneurial skills and commitment to staff.

The 36-year-old mum launched her pudding-making business from her mother's kitchen 18 years ago and now employs 20 workers in custom-built commercial kitchens.

Helen won best new business in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph Business Awards.

Lilian Hargreaves, proprietor of the Mytton Fold Farm Hotel, Langho, was nominated for her hugely successful farm diversification.

Her pig herd was devastated by swine fever and after diversifying into bed and breakfast accommodation she is now proprietor of one of the Ribble Valley's leading hotel and conference facilities, which features a premier 18-hole golf course.

The fourth nominee was Julia Watson, of Clayton-le-Dale, who is a partner in Roebuck's Solicitors, Blackburn, and a specialist in family law, as well as a deputy district judge.

The Lancashire Woman of the Year Award was started in 1989 to honour exceptional women from all walks of life and the presentation ceremony is expected to have raised thousands of pounds for the children's charity, Barnardo's.