A POPULAR Belbroughton councillor has told of her delight at receiving an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Janice Boswell, who represented Clent and Belbroughton on Bromsgrove District Council for 15 years and is now a Belbroughton parish councillor, found out a few weeks ago that she'd been nominated to receive the Royal honour but had to remain tight-lipped until the list was officially released on Saturday.

The 74-year-old said: "I'm absolutely delighted. I just couldn't believe it."

Retired hairdresser Mrs Boswell, who was born in White Heath, Rowley Regis, received the accolade for her voluntary service and services to the community in Bromsgrove.

Stourbridge News:

While on the district council she took on the top roles of chairman, vice-chairman and civic head and raised thousands of pounds for charities including Primrose Hospice, Dogs for the Disabled, Edward's Trust in Birmingham and the Stroke Association’s Life After Stroke Centre.

But her passion for fundraising goes all the way back to her teenaged years.

She started selling raffle tickets for Cancer Research at the age of 19, after setting up hairdressing salons in Langley and Oldbury, having seen her 13-year-old cousin fight a losing battle against the deadly disease - and she said: "They used to call me 'queen of the raffles'."

Over the years she has raised funds for and supported a host of causes including Oldbury Ambulance Station, Mary Stevens Hospice in Stourbridge, Belbroughton's Animal Sanctuary and Protection, Holy Trinity Church in Belbroughton, Sunfield School in Clent and many others.

She also restarted tea dances for the community at Bromsgrove's Parkside Council House.

These days she is a big supporter of Bromsgrove's Life after Stroke charity in Church Lane which helped her on the road to recovery after she was found to have suffered a stroke in 2014.

Mrs Boswell, who has previously met The Queen at a do at Buckingham Palace, is set to receive her Royal accolade later in the year.