THE new mayor of Barrow has spoken of her pride after taking on the role of representing the town where she has lived for decades.

Judith McEwan, a councillor for Ormsgill, has been selected to take on the historic role.

Councillor McEwan is a member of the Labour Party and was brought up in Dalton-in-Furness.

Although she left the area in her early 20s, Cllr McEwan made her return and settled down in Barrow where she has lived here for the past 50 years.

 “Barrow is a good place to live with all the beautiful beaches and scenery and we have so much history too,” she said.

“The icing on the cake however are the people who live here. They are friendly, good-hearted and generous.  We all look out for each other which I think is very special.

“Accepting the robes and chains of office was a very proud moment for me. I will never forget it.”

She has taken on the role from Chris Altree, who became the first mayor of Barrow Town Council - the authority created following the shake-up in local government last year.

The newly appointed mayor said ‘it's a difficult question to know what the future holds’ but she would like the people to know they can request the Mayor to visit at any time and also for schools to visit the town hall to see the history of the town.

As mayor, you can choose a couple of charities to devote fundraising to. Councillor McEwan has chosen two local charities, Stitch-Ability and Every Life Matters. She plans to get as much money for them as she can.

Stitch-Ability allows young people with disabilities to create, manage and sell products, while Every Life Matters is a suicide prevention charity.