Tenants in East Cleveland have voted a local mum on to the board of a not-for-profit organisation being set up to manage council houses in the area.

Susan Taylor, from New Skelton, takes the place of Peter Baldwin, who died earlier this year.

She polled 902 votes, ahead of Rex Broxham from Guisborough, with 367 votes and John Bostock from New Skelton, with 169 votes, to be awarded the place on the board of Coast and Country Housing.

The organisation aims to regenerate the 12,000 council houses in the Redcar and Cleveland area by accessing grants and cash that is not available to the council.

There was a turn out of more than 37 per cent of the 3,700 tenants eligible to vote and Mrs Taylor said she was very pleased.

She added: "I hope I'll be able to fulfil people's expectations."

The council's director of housing, Iain Sim, added: "We're also pleased with the tremendous turn-out, which shows and confirms the levels of interest from tenants on the transfer."