A Billingham author is taking readers back to a time of rationing and blackouts.

Former school governor Ron Restall has put the finishing touches to his book, Just a Lad from the Village.

The book, which described the changing lifestyle of post-war Billingham from 1941 to 1960, has taken him more than ten years to write.

Mr Restall, a retired engineer who is wheelchair-bound with multiple sclerosis, describes an era when rationing was still in force, fuel stocks were low and life was a struggle.

He said: "I did not set out with the intention of writing a book, I set out to write down some memories and the book developed from there."

A governor of Grangefield and Whitefield Schools for the past three years, he received an MBE in 1999 for services to education on Teesside when he was a governor of Ian Ramsey Comprehensive and Rosehill Schools.

The book will be launched at 10am on May 1 at Billingham Art Gallery, to coincide with the launch of Stockton Borough Council's local history month.

It will be available for £3.99 from Billingham Art Gallery and Roseberry, Bedale, Norton and Central Stockton libraries.