AWARD-WINNING actress Maxine Peake backed calls to honour Oldham's suffragette hero Annie Kenney with a statue.

The actress, well-known for her roles in Shameless and Dinnerladies attended a dinner to fundraise for The Annie Kenney Project, which aims to see a statue of the historic suffragette installed in Oldham town centre.

The fundraising event, at the Blue Tiffin restaurant, was attended by The Annie Kenney Project Chair, Jim McMahon MP, vice-chair and leader of Oldham Council Jean Stretton and fundraising patrons Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, and Angela Rayner, MP for Ashton and Droylsden.

Fundraiser organiser Cllr Graham Shuttleworth said: "I am delighted with the success of tonight’s event and grateful to Maxine Peake who in between her busy filming schedule honoured us with her presence.

"It was great to see so many people from all walks of life come together to assist us in this very worthy project."

Annie Kenney was born in Springhead in 1879, to a relatively poor family and was one of 12 children.

She started work in a cotton mill at the age of 10 and became actively involved in the trade union while working there.

Annie was the only working class woman to hold a senior position in the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), which spearheaded the campaign for universal suffrage under the banner "Votes for Women".

Her political activity attracted the attention of the press and the public in 1905 because, during a Liberal rally in Manchester’s Free Trade Hall, she and Christabel Pankhurst interrupted a political meeting to ask Sir Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey if they believed women should have the right to vote. Both women were arrested and later imprisoned for allegedly causing an obstruction.

Chair of The Annie Kenney Project, Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon said: "It’s about time that we recognised our Annie’s important role in the fight for women’s rights.

"She was pivotal to winning the vote for women, and is inspiration to us folk in Oldham. She came from a humble working class background, but wasn’t scared to fight for her beliefs in equality and fairness for all."

The project aims to see a statue of Annie Kenney installed outside Oldham's refurbished Old Town Hall.