A FORMER mayor will receive his degree today 25 years after he started his studies.

Councillor Barry Woodhouse, of Stockton Borough Council, will be celebrating the silver jubilee of his studies when he receives his Open University BSc (Hons) degree from former speaker of the House of Commons and university chancellor, Betty Boothroyd.

Coun Woodhouse has studied a variety of subjects over the past quarter of a century, including health promotion, criminology, technology, social science, and maths and design.

He claims his busy lifestyle, including his political career, delayed his studies and prevented him completing his course in a shorter space of time.

Coun Woodhouse said: "My circumstances prove that the Open University is the ideal university, that allows you to tailor your study around your lifestyle."

He will receive his degree, along with more than 300 other North-East Open University students, at a ceremony at Newcastle City Hall, this afternoon.

Ironically, Coun Woodhouse's degree is more relevant to his work now than it was when he started studying in the 1970s.

He said: "My government role is new to the authority and is a community-based remit covering all aspects of the council's work.

"Crime and health are high on the political agenda, and both my honours courses gave me an in-depth working knowledge of promoting health, the effects and perception of crime and offenders, and a good grounding in analysis of social problems and statistics."

Paul Muldoon, the Irish poet, will also be presented with an honorary doctorate at the ceremony.

The Open University has more than 5,500 students in the UK and also supports 5,500 students across Europe.