TOWNIE Shirley Muir is leaving the industrial North-East behind her for a dream job in the Lake District.

After working in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool for most of her working life, the 44-year-old mother-of-two is taking up a post as property manager for the National Trust in Keswick.

Shirley, from Hartlepool, will be responsible for 11 tenanted sheep farms in Borrowdale, thousands of acres of fellside and half of Derwent Water.

She is currently working at County Hall, Durham, where she has been an officer for the North Pennines Partnership for 18 months.

Her 1,000 square mile patch is bounded by Barnard Castle and Kirkby Stephen in the south, and Brampton and Hexham in the north.

Her biggest project has been assembling a Heritage Lottery bid for the North Pennines. If successful, it will bring in nearly £2m to the region to fund community-led projects.