AS local politicians take their seats in the historic Council Chamber following the local election, one familiar face will be missing.

Lynda Byrne made the decision to step down as councillor after serving the people of Bolton for 24 years.

Mrs Byrne decided not to stand in the recent election but says she will still be working for the interests of Bolton.

The mother-of-two grown-up children was first elected in 1994 as a councillor for the Bradshaw ward and become not only the first Labour councillor to win a seat in the Tory heartland but also the very first woman councillor in the ward's history.

Her term ended in 1998 when she was narrowly defeated by Conservative councillor Tony Osbourne by two votes — after four recounts.

But Mrs Byrne got a taste of local politics and stood for elections in the Central Ward, which is now Crompton Ward and remained as the local councillor from 1999-2003.

And said Mrs Byrne she was "thrilled" to be selected in Breightmet in the "all out elections" in 2004 where she served since making the decision to step down.

"I got great satisfaction from solving people’s problems. I met lots of lovely people and made many friends," said Mrs Byrne, who lives with her husband John, a serving councillor, in Breightmet, "I have already started to work on the wards at Bolton Hospice on a voluntary basis and I absolutely love it. I will be keeping in touch with my colleagues from the Labour Group and I will continue to work in Breightmet helping in future election campaigns."

She added: "Helping people has got to be the best thing about being a councillor —for me anyway.

"I am a practical person so I preferred working in the community as opposed to attending meeting. The worst thing is not being able to solve everyone's problem but I always tried my very best and never promised things I knew I could not deliver."

Her proudest moment, she said was undoubtedly becoming the town's first citizen in 2016/2017.

"I was most humbled and worked hard to raise thousands of pounds for my four charities. I was amazed at the number of voluntary organisations I discovered during my term as mayor," said Mrs Byrne who is a qualified nurse.

"The highlight of my political career was to serve my constituents but also to accept the Mayoralty 2016-2017. My year as mayor was such a honour and I was humbled to represent the people of Bolton."

Words of advice to those entering politics — "I would advise anyone entering politics to expect to miss out on lots of family events, it is very time consuming and if you are committed you have to give a lot of time to community organisations and people in need of help, " she said.