A LIBERAL Democrat politician who served as a town, district and county councillor for almost 30 years, has died of cancer aged 82.

Janet Morgan was first elected as an Abingdon town councillor in 1983, and holds the distinction of never being defeated throughout her 28-year political career.

One of her many achievements while in office was championing a campaign by local young people to bring a skate park to Abingdon, which opened in 2007.

While serving as mayor of the town she also established the biennial 'Clubs and Societies Day' when members of the public have the opportunity to learn about all the organisations in Abingdon.

Mrs Morgan was initially a Liberal, then a member of the SDP/Liberal Alliance and finally the Liberal Democrats.

Within the parties she held office both in the Abingdon branch and at constituency level, being recognised for her work with the Patsy Coulton Award for national services to the Liberal Democrats in 2011.

Mrs Morgan served as mayor of Abingdon in 1988/89, was leader of Vale of the White Horse District Council, education spokeswoman for the Lib Dems on Oxfordshire County Council and was given the Freedom of Abingdon in 2011.

Speaking about the honour at the time she said: "I was quite overwhelmed when I was told about it.

“It really is a great honour which I don’t think I deserve, but it is very nice to have."

Janet Morgan was born in Abergavenny, Wales on February 18, 1935, to parents Percy McAllister, who was a maths teacher, and Freda Price.

The eldest of three children, she is survived by younger sister Susan Byng Hall, 79, with younger brother John McAllister passing away in 2012, aged 67.

She grew up in Mill Hill, London with her siblings where her father was a housemaster of Mill Hill School.

During the war the family were evacuated to St Bees, Cumbria, where she attended primary school.

Mrs Morgan went to boarding school in Keswick, then North London Collegiate School and finally read history at St Hilda's College, Oxford University, remaining in Abingdon from that time onwards.

She later trained to be a history teacher and taught at St Mary’s Wantage, Matthew Arnold School and Down House throughout her career.

She married theoretical physicist David Morgan in June 1959, meeting through friends at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, now the Harwell Campus, and the couple spent a year in Geneva, Switzerland, while he worked at CERN.

With her husband, who worked at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, she had three children; Alice Jane Morgan born on May 27, 1962, Edward Morgan born on February 27, 1964, and Elizabeth Rachel Morgan born on October 7, 1966.

In her free time she enjoyed hill walking, with a special fondness for the Lake District, as well as spending time with family, especially her 10 grandchildren.

Mrs Morgan's funeral will take place tomorrow at 11am at St Helen’s Church, Abingdon with refreshments afterwards. All are welcome to attend.

The family have requested no flowers but donations can be given via justgiving.com/teams/JanetMorganAbingdon which will be split between The Abingdon Bridge project, a charity that supports vulnerable teenagers, and Sobell House Hospice.