KNUTSFORD Mayor Cllr Stewart Gardiner paid tribute to his 'colleague and friend', Cllr Barbara Hamilton Coan, who died on Friday following a short illness, at Monday's meeting of the town council.

Cllr Hamilton Coan was first elected to the town council in May 2008, representing Over ward for seven years before not seeking re-election in 2015.

After a four-year break she returned to the council in May 2019 as a councillor for the Bexton ward. Barbara was elected deputy town mayor in 2012, and served as the town mayor in 2013-14.

Cllr Gardiner said: "For those of us who have known Barbara this will be a very sad time not just for us, but for her family, who were the world to her.

“Barbara was always a very conscientious member of this council.

“She always paid due regard to the work that we did; it was always very important to her, to the extent that even when she knew that her life was passing away she fulfilled her responsibilities completely, even to chairing meetings within the last month.

“When she was the mayor, Barbara always had a keen eye for what we were wearing to council meetings and always insisted that the male members of the council wore a jacket and tie.

“And on one occasion when one of our colleagues, who’s not currently on the council, turned up in a T-shirt (it wasn’t summer), she did reprimand him.

“So I was particularly concerned to make sure I was wearing a tie this evening, both as a mark of respect, but also with a smile to remind me of all that Barbara mentioned.

“During her time as the town mayor she introduced the concept of a cadet for the mayor, which is something we carry on going forward."

Cllr Gardiner said one of his biggest memories of Barbara during her mayoral year was when she chose to have a difference to the parade the council had introduced.

He said: “Barbara had always suffered with her health, and wasn’t always able to walk far.

“So, in order to overcome this particular difficulty, she persuaded a local car company to provide her with an open-top Rolls Royce, and while the rest of the council walked to church Barbara drove along behind us in her car.

“As well as being a very astute member of the council, very forensic in what she looked at, Barbara was also somebody who had a very keen sense of humour.

“Sometimes if you were in a formal meeting with her you had to be careful you didn’t catch her eye, in case she started you laughing, though she was always deadpan.

“Barbara, we miss you, may you rest in peace and may your God be with you, and may he comfort your family in their distress.”

Following the mayor's tribute councillors observed a minute's silence in memory of Barbara.