FOR the first time ever, there are nearly as many female as male councillors on Wyre Forest District Council.

At the council elections in May, 16 female and 17 male councillors were elected, compared to 12 female and 21 male the previous year.

The council's official percentage of female to male is now 48 per cent - well above the national average of 35 per cent - while 60 per cent of Wyre Forest's cabinet are women.

It means Wyre Forest is among only 35 councils in the country with 45 per cent or more female councillors.

The district council also has its first chairman and vice chairman from minority ethnic backgrounds this year - Cllr Shazu Miah and Cllr Peter Young.

Council leader Cllr Graham Ballinger said: "This represents a real step change in Wyre Forest and is testament to the hard work of all political parties in the district to bring about greater equality and diversity.

"I am pleased that is reflected in the make-up of the cabinet that I lead.

“Having 33 councillors means there will never be exactly the same number of men and women, so in broad terms we have reached gender balance.

"There is still more work to be done to make the council even more representative of the local population, but we’re well on the way and ahead of many councils in the country.”