OYEZ, Oyez - the beautiful county of the Isle of Wight has a new town crier - Shirley Ballard!

Knocking over the traditional male bastion is Shirley who has been appointed to the Island's honorary post by Island council chairman Vic Morey.

For the past seven years, great-grandmother Shirley has been testing her vocal chords as official town crier of the tourist village of Godshill.

Then, with Shanklin's Peter Simmonds no longer being available to town cry at council functions, that situation became vacant.

Shirley, who lives in Paddock Close, Godshill, said: "I am just a frustrated actress. I am really looking forward to following in the footsteps of Peter, without whose help I would never have become a town crier.

"I practice in my garden. All the cats go running, but the neighbours are understanding."

A member of the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers, Shirley first became interested in town crying in the 1980s when the Island became the venue of several European and World town crier championships.

Wearing a distinctive peacock blue outfit, she parades through the streets of Godshill four times a week during the summer, ringing her bell and extolling the village's attractions to the visitors.

Shirley regularly takes part in European and World championships, where she has never finished outside the top ten from a field of candidates that can range from 35 to 80.

Her first county engagements come on all three evenings of Newport Area Forum's Christmas Festival - yesterday, December 12 and 19 - in St James's and St Thomas's squares, between 5pm and 8pm.