A GRANDMOTHER is hoping to become one of Britain's oldest councillors at the age of 80.

Labour die-hard Pearl Hall is planning to fight for a seat in South Bank, Middlesbrough, in next year's district elections.

And even though she will be 86 by the time she comes up for re-election, the determined grandma reckons age is no barrier.

"Our councillors are not doing a damn thing," she said. "I have a lot of ideas, I want to see South Bank on the map. And I don't take no for an answer.''

Pearl, who is 81 this weekend, is chairwoman of South Bank Residents' Association and sits on the single regeneration board overseeing the transformation of the rundown Teesside town.

When she is not attending a meeting, she can be seen behind the counter of her shop - called Open All Hours - named after Arkwright's store in the Ronnie Barker TV sit com - for 15 hours a day.

She has already addressed MPs in the House of Commons on the need to ban the sale of fireworks. Now she is seeking the nomination to stand for Labour in next year's district council elections.

Pearl wants South Bank to have a top-class football ground which late lamented local hero Wilf Mannion would have been proud of.

The one time senior shop steward recently told Redcar MP Vera Baird that she was going to hire a rowing boat to show the parliamentarian riverside sites that were crying out for regeneration - potential going to waste.

The Redcar MP went one step better - she took a ride on harbour master's launch and invited a handful of civic dignitaries and officials to see the potential for turning the River Tees back into the lifeblood of the economy.