PEOPLE in Ilkley are mourning the death of a woman who led the parish council three times.

Tributes have been paid to Eastmoor Nursing Home resident Mary (Molly) Renton who has died, aged 90, after a long illness.

Originally from Leeds, Mrs Renton threw herself into the life of the town after moving with her husband Stephen to Ilkley almost 60 years ago.

Despite having three children, Sarah, Stephanie and Ruth to bring up - another child, Andrew, died as a baby - and a busy job as librarian at the former Ilkley College, Mrs Renton became a stalwart of local civic life.

She served on the Ilkley Urban District Council and on the Parish Council which superseded it, becoming chairman in 1979, 1981, and 1987.

"Her life was one of total and very effective service to the town," said former parish council colleague Barbara Cussons.

As well as her parish council duties, Mrs Renton also helped to start up the twinning committee with Coutances, the Ilkley Literature Festival, and was chairman of governors at Ilkley Grammar School.

Mrs Renton also led the Britain in Bloom group which won the national championship and represented Britain in the international championship competition in Switzerland.

But one of her greatest legacies to the town was when she spearheaded the campaign against the plan to build a supermarket on Ilkley's central car park. For the first time, Ilkley raised a precept to pay for a barrister to fight the proposals.

Mrs Cussons said: "The campaign stopped the supermarket which would have paralysed the town and I was 100 per cent behind her."

She added: "She was a very intelligent woman who put her all into the town and she made a big contribution."

Mrs Renton's daughter Sarah Stead said her mother loved cooking and looking after the family as well as enjoying foreign travel, making lots of friends in Coutances.

She said: "She loved doing public work and organising things and was very, very hard working in the town."

The family lived in Ben Rhydding and up to her eighties, Mrs Renton enjoyed playing badminton.

Her husband died in 2000, and her daughter Ruth died suddenly on May 31. Mrs Renton leaves five grandchildren, one great-grandchild with another on the way.

Solicitor John Hawkesworth, husband of Anne, who was another of Mrs Renton's former parish council colleagues, knew her for around 50 years.

"All she was interested in doing was representing the people of Ilkley," said Mr Hawkesworth.

The funeral will take place at St John's Church, Ben Rhydding, on Wednesday, June 18, at 2.30pm, followed by cremation at Skipton.