ONE of Bury's last remaining male bastions is now set to welcome its first-ever lady member.

And just who the lucky woman will be is the question being posed by the Rotary Club of Bury.

The club is breaking with its long-standing tradition by taking the decision to admit women for the first time in its history.

Rotarian Mr Brian Rothwell said: "Since 1928 when the club was formed, the club has always been male-only.

"Now, the Rotary constitution has been changed and women can now be accepted as members."

He added: "Bury will not be the only club in the area to have women members as the Rotary Club of Bolton Daybreak was formed a few years ago with equal numbers of men and women."

In 2000, the Rotary movement as a whole changed its constitution to pave the way for female members to join.

Mr Rothwell, a member of Bury Rotary Club for the past 21 years, explained: "But what happened then was that all the male-only clubs had a choice, to either admit women or remain male-gender."

Two years on, Bury Rotary has now decided to allow women to join.

"We've had a change of heart to allow women at club level," he disclosed.

The former president said the decision was taken after a vote among Bury Rotary's 34-strong male membership.

And he admitted that not all were in favour of endorsing the historic change.

"There was a little bit of opposition at the time, although the vote itself did decide not to remain as a single-gender club."

Commenting on one of the major reasons for the alteration to the constitution, he said: "It's difficult to get people into organisations like ours now because time is at a premium."

The club hopes that its first-ever lady member will be inducted before or during the early part of the coming Rotary year which commences on July 3.

Bury Rotary is anxious to attract more business and professional people, both male and female, into the club

Mr Rothwell, who from July will be the club's membership chairman, stressed: "Rotary is a service organisation and contributes much to the international and local community.

"Their motto is 'service above self' and as such should be applicable to both men and women."

For details ring Mr Rothwell on 0161 764 2973.