TWO MPs, a mayor and many friends will honour the work of a knight of the road - who didn't even drive.

Joan Wynham wasn't a motorist herself, yet she helped hundreds of travellers find their routes through East Lancashire - via the CB airways.

She was 'The Happy Wanderer' - the lady whose voice guided drivers to their destinations eight hours a day, five days a week, for more than 13 years.

Despite being an invalid and suffering poor health for many years, Joan carried out the service from her Townhouse Road, Nelson, home, up to the day before her death in December at the age of 58.

Now the work of the unsung heroine is to be officially recognised. On Saturday the Mayor of Burnley, Coun Arthur Park will be joined by MPs Peter Pike and Gordon Prentice and Joan's family and friends, when he unveils a specially inscribed brass plaque in her memory.

It has been mounted in a stone wall opposite the Mitre Hotel - a spot where four roads meet and the access point from the M65.

It reflects the fact that for years Joan kept traffic through Burnley and the surrounding area moving.

Friend, Ian Pickles said: "Her voice could be heard all over Lancashire and though she wasn't a driver herself, she had an encyclopaedia knowledge of the area, the location of factories, height and weight limits, road works and other hazards."

He added: "The plaque, which is being paid for by money collected by friends after Joan died is a very fitting tribute which I know she would have appreciated."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.