ONE of the driving forces behind Haltwhistle’s bypass has died at the age of 75.

Anne Burns fought for decades alongside Coun. Margaret Forrest to secure the town’s A69 bypass, which was built in the late 1990s.

Anne was born in Newburn, but grew up in Fourstones and lived there until she married her husband, Alan, in 1967.

Anne met Alan whilst working at Crown Paints as an administrator. The couple moved to Haltwhistle, and for the rest of their lives they never lived more than 200 yards away from the house they first moved to.

She later worked at a caravan park in Carlisle before working for Hawker Siddeley at Spadeadam, where her daughter Heidi now works.

Anne stopped working in 1970 to have children, but in 1986 she returned to work as an escort on the school buses for St Mary’s and St Joseph’s in Hexham, before finally retiring in 2008.

Heidi commented: “She loved it, she loved being with the kids. She loved children.”

Anne was also a longstanding member of the South Tyne Traction Engine Society along with her husband.

Together they spent many weekends travelling around the country to various meets and events with their family.

Anne became a member of Haltwhistle Town Council in 1999 and served until 2013, as well as serving on the Haltwhistle Partnership Board.

Tributes were paid to Anne by the council at its meeting on Monday. The council’s chairman, Alan Sharp, said: “Anne lived here for most of her life and was a very active member of the community.

“Perhaps her greatest achievement was her work with Coun. Forest to get the bypass.

“I will always be grateful, and remember her sense of humour.

“The place is a sadder place for her passing.”

Heidi added: “She had an incredibly good life. She was fiercely loyal. She would do anything for us. She would lay her life down for us.

“She could sometimes be quite annoying – she would phone me three or four times a day asking if I was all right. But actually, it’s one of the things you miss.

“She always thought she was going to beat cancer even though she was told it was incurable. She put up a tremendous fight.”