FORMER council leader Bob Price, current Lord Mayor Jean Fooks and long-serving city councillor Gill Sanders are expected to get a new award from the authority.

Last month the Oxford Mail reported how the city council's party leaders had agreed that honorary aldermen and honorary alderwomen titles should be given to people who had given outstanding service to the city.

In council papers, to be discussed later this month, it is revealed that Mr Price, Mrs Fooks and Mrs Sanders are the first three people who will be recognised in this way.

Mr Price stepped down as a Hinksey Park councillor last Thursday, having served on the authority as a Labour member since 1983. He had been its leader for 10 years.

Mrs Fooks, a Lib Dem, had been a councillor for Summertown since 1992 but did not stand for re-election this month. She plans to move away from Oxford to spend more time with family.

Mrs Sanders is also no longer a city councillor, having stepped down from her Littlemore seat ahead of May 3's election, but will continue as a Labour county councillor for Rose Hill and Littlemore until 2021 at least.

Mrs Fooks' successor as Lord Mayor, Labour councillor Colin Cook, will be officially appointed at the city council's annual meeting on May 15.

At that, councillors will be asked to agree another meeting is arranged for those awards to be formally presented.

They had agreed the award system should be set up at a meeting on April 23.