AFTER nearly 40 years of helping other people, physiotherapist Eileen Polley has brought down the curtain on her career with the NHS.

Friends and colleagues gathered at Northallerton's Children's Centre, in Brompton Road, where she worked for Hambleton and Richmondshire Primary Care Trust, to celebrate her retirement.

Ms Polley trained as a physiotherapist in 1966 and worked in Oxford and then Newcastle until 1972.

She then worked in Switzerland before returning to England to work in Manchester in 1985 as a senior in paediatrics.

From there, Ms Polley moved to Ashington in a similar role until 1989, when she went to work at the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, where she stayed until retirement, based at the children's centre.

She said: "My first priority is a holiday in Ireland. I'll then be looking forward to doing a bit more walking, and perhaps some woodwork. I would also like to return to the centre to do some voluntary work."

The Friarage's head of physiotherapy, Anne Alder, said: "Eileen has been absolutely dedicated to her work with children and the paediatric teams.

"The service, her patients and their families will miss her very much.

"We all wish her a very well-earned and happy retirement."