A FORMER mayor was honoured for her tireless community work yesterday by being named Darlington's Citizen of the Year.

Beatrice Cuthbertson, former Mayor of Darlington and former chairwoman of Sadberge Parish Council, won the accolade for her extensive voluntary work.

The Citizen of the Year award is part of the annual Mayor's Community Awards, sponsored by the Mayor's Charity Fund and The Northern Echo.

As part of the honour, Mrs Cuthbertson, 83, will attend important civic events with the mayor.

The former borough councillor for Sadberge is involved in the Sadberge Pensioners' Association and the village hall committee.

She is chairwoman of the Darlington Association of Parish Councils, and in Sadberge she organises a village lottery, arranges functions for the elderly and is a judge for the Darlington Rural Garden Competition.

Receiving her award from the current Mayor of Darlington, Councillor Doris Jones, Mrs Cuthbertson said: "I am very honoured. I don't really know what I have done to deserve this, but I really must thank the people of Sadberge for nominating me.

"I had been a councillor since 1971, a long time to serve the Sadberge ward.

"I do a lot in the village, and for the St Teresa's Hospice - I just do everything that anyone asks me."

The Red Hall Partnership won the Community Group of the Year Award for their work on the estate.

Sue Davison, community development worker for Darlington Borough Council, said: "The partnership has done a lot of work with the children on the estate and we have attracted over £90,000 to the area last year through different funders, such as the County Durham Foundation and the Children's Fund. It is good for the partnership to be recognised like this."

Nominees for the Citizen of the Year were: David Regan of the Cockerton and Branksome Living Enterprise, Keith Miller of the Darlington Residents' Panel and Eileen Shephard of the Whinfield Residents' Association.

Nominees for Community Group of the Year were: Cockerton and Branksome Living Enterprise, the Mount Pleasant Rangers Junior Football Club and the Darlington Residents' Panel.