THE mayor of Oswestry has paid tribute to the key health workers in Oswestry and surrounding areas for their 'stoic' efforts during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Councillor Mark Jones was joined by his wife Ruth, who nursed patients during the pandemic in 2020, to show off a banner of support outside the Guildhall.

Cllr Jones says the banner is just a small token of his appreciation for the workers that put themselves on the line in hospitals and in care homes.

"We put the banner up to honour the NHS workers and the care workers who worked stoically during the first part of the Covid-19 pandemic," he said.

"Obviously it was quite a risky job to work through Covid – Ruth was a nurse during it.

"She used to come home and her clothes were washed straight away. She made sure she had a shower and it was all clean so Covid didn't come back home.

"It was a very serious time – Ruth didn't miss a day and she carried on all the way through it and her colleagues did as well.

"Oswestry is quite a big health town; I think there's about 1,300 people working at the Orthopaedic [Hospital] so it's a big community for them.

"And we have a lot of care workers living and working in the town so it's a big place for health.

"It's a big boon that they were able to carry on and I haven't heard of anybody from the Orthopaedic who was too ill from Covid so we're very lucky.

"We're obviously very proud of Ruth and her two sisters too, who are also nurses.

"But we're proud of them all – I'm at the [Oswestry] rugby club and we have a few doctors who come through there too and they've had to work hard and put a lot of hours in.”

Ruth added: "It is nice to be part of this as with everything that's gone on, everyone appreciates the NHS.

"Hopefully today is about acknowledging that."