WILL you all please stand for housewife, mother, bank clerk and . . . toastmaster Elissa Baker.

The 38-year-old has taken the unprecedented step of becoming the first female toastmaster in the North West after completing an intensive training course.

Elissa, who works at the Halifax in the Longfield Centre, Prestwich, discovered the UK School of Professional Toastmasters on the internet and signed up for the exclusive course in Lowestoft, Sussex.

Only one person from each area of the country is selected to undertake the training at any one time and only 12 people are trained each year.

Elissa, who is also on the Tender Loving Care committee for Christie Hospital, said: "I have done a lot of public speaking and took elocution lessons for four years. People have said that my best asset is my voice so I thought why not become a toastmaster?"

The mother-of-two, who lives in Crumpsall, said she is always game for a laugh and recently donned wig and glasses as Anne Robinson for a fund raising Weakest Link quiz.

But her new role requires a certain amount of restraint.

After learning about protocol and etiquette for a variety of occasions, such as Jewish and Islamic weddings, how to project her voice and deportment, Elissa was kitted out in her smart uniform and conducted her first function last weekend at the Village Hotel in Heap Bridge, Bury.

She said: "It was a lovely English style wedding and the BBC came along to film me. It was wonderful and I got a lot of positive feedback."

Elissa now has her own website and can be contacted at elissa.baker@timewarp.co.uk