TRIBUTES have been paid to several long-serving councillors who will be bowing out after this year's local elections.

At last week's full council meeting, Bury Council leader Mike Connolly thanked the members who were sitting in the chamber for the last time.

Cllr Connolly, who will be stepping down as council leader, was described as a "giant of Bury politics" by colleagues.

Leaving their roles as ward councillors after the election on May 5 are councillors Michelle Wiseman, Luise Fitzwalter, Tony Isherwood, Dot Cassidy, and Daisy Bailey.

Cllr Wiseman has represented Pilkington Park ward since 2003, first as a Conservative before becoming an independent in 2013. She has also served as mayor and deputy mayor.

Cllr Connolly said of her: "Michelle Wiseman has served not only as a councillor but she was also a first class Mayor and Deputy, and she has been a first class councillor whilst also holding down a really time-consuming day job.

"I stand in awe of her time management skills. Thank you for your service, Michelle."

He described Cllr Fitzwalter as "the epitome of a community campaigner" and thanked her for working "tirelessly" for her constituents in Ramsbottom during her term of office.

Of Cllr Cassidy, who has served the people of Moorside since 1998, he added: "Dot Cassidy is another absolutely first class councillor, totally dedicated to the residents of her ward and another tireless worker and campaigner.

"In the times we live in, where the public seem to have grown weary of archetypal politicians, it's a crying shame that more people don't see the work that councillors such as Dot put in, day in and day out."

Cllr Isherwood has been a member of the council since 1985, sitting in Radcliffe West, and has recently been responsible for the council's finances and the environment portfolio.

The council leader said of him: "Tony has an incredible mind, particularly when it comes to maths, as the chief executive found out to his cost while Tony was in charge of finance.

"He can be faced with incredibly complicated matters and take them right back to their core, and most of all he can make the big decisions that matter.

"Tony is also a man of great integrity who has never shirked an argument when faced with matters of principle and he is also a man of great courage, something he demonstrated in spades when we made changes to the refuse collection service."

Green councillor Daisy Bailey, who has recently given birth, also will be leaving the seat she first won as a Labour candidate in 2012.

Bury Green Party co-ordinator Niamh McGarry-Gribbin, who is standing in Cllr Bailey's seat, said: "We are very proud of the sterling job Daisy has done in Radcliffe East. She has been thwarted a bit with her pregnancy and ill health, but has continued to work for local residents and liaise with the party over important local issues. We wish her the very best."