The woman who served as Keighley’s first and only wool queen has died.

Joan Elizabeth Kirby, of Braithwaite Road, died suddenly at home on Friday, aged 89.

She was born in Leeds but had lived in Keighley since she was eight years old.

In 1938 she took part in a competition to find an official wool queen of Great Britain, to help boost this part of the textile sector. The 18-year-old hairdresser was selected for the role for the Keighley area and could have gone on to represent the industry nationally if the Second World War had not intervened.

She impressed the local judges with her charm, deportment and etiquette and went on to feature in an advertising campaign to promote Keighley retail businesses. Her daughter, Diane Sands, said: “It was one of those early PR drives really.

“It was to get people to acknowledge the wool trade more but because of the war it ended up only being a one-off thing.”

During the conflict her mother worked on the night shift at Prince Smith munitions factory and also ran a successful hairdressing business which specialised in the popular Marcel Wave style.

She was married for more than 50 years and had two daughters, Diane and Christine, and a son, Philip.

Her funeral service takes place on Monday, at 1.30pm, in St James’s Church, Cross Roads. This will be followed by interment at Haworth West Lane Cemetery, at 2.30pm.