Farnham Town Council has been remembering one of its greats with tributes being paid to a woman who twice wore the mayoral chains.

Sheila Scrivens was a high-flyer in every sense as she worked as cabin crew for Cambrian Airways in the early 1960s and married an airline pilot.

And like her husband, Victor, she climbed her way to the head of the council table, becoming mayoress in 1998 and 2005, making her the first woman to complete the feat at FTC.

Sheila sadly succumbed to Alzheimer’s and was 83 when she died on September 15 in a care home.

But she her place in Farnham history is secure with Cllr Carole Cockburn calling her a “hardworking councillor and a generous friend”.

She added: “She was a feisty councillor who would stand up for her principles in the council chamber and always enjoyed a healthy debate.

"As mayor, she was always sincerely interested in the organisations she visited and chaired the council with both attention to the rules and a good sense of humour.”

Sheila, who was born in Swansea in 1941 and served for many years as a Lib Dem councillor, was heavily involved int the community and volunteered for Meals on Wheels and Entrust.

The “working class girl” was also proficient seamstress and wardrobe mistress who helped the Tilford Players and Farnham Shakespeare company.

She even snapped up the entire wardrobe from Redgrave Theatre when it closed and opened Measure for Measure costume hire in using the remnants.

Her upbringing was tough and she was forced to give up a child at 19 for adoption, but her own troubles never stopped her “open door policy” in taking people in and giving them a room at difficult times.

She is survived by her children: Annabel Loders, Alex Scrivens and Rachel Smith.