FYLDE Councillor Margaret Procopides will mark her 21st year in local politics by becoming the borough's new mayor. Coun Procopides, of Church Road, St Annes, will be inaugurated in May.

But the part-time teacher is refusing to get too excited about the prospect until she is safely re-elected as councillor for Central ward at the forthcoming local elections.

She said: "I can't look forward to it with excitement and pleasure until it's definite. If it happens, I will be delighted. To be mayor would give me a warm feeling of pride." Coun Procopides, 76, who stands as an independent Ratepayer candidate, is not married and so Coun Frank Hoyle will be her consort.

Born in Manchester, the councillor was educated in the south of England and came to live in St Annes more than 40 years ago.

She currently works as a speech trainer at Blackpool and the Fylde College's St Annes campus. She also teaches public speaking, having gained the first of her two teaching diplomas in 1988.

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