THE achievements of men and women from a town have been recognised in a book.

Redcar Personalities is the 11th book by historian Vera Robinson.

The 90-year-old, of The Willows, Redcar, has written several books on the history of Redcar and surrounding areas.

Her latest project focused on famous and remarkable people from the area, and chapters 11 people who have made significant achievements.

Mrs Robinson said: "Redcar has residents past and present that have not been recognised for their valuable contribution and many have achieved greatness.

"Redcar is just proud of having made these remarkable men and women. If you ask people in Redcar if they know of famous people from the town, they can probably only think of one or two, but this book has 11."

The book took about two years to complete and involved an enormous amount of research.

Mrs Robinson said: "It was very difficult.

"I had to find relations to get photographs and had to look through obituaries from old newspapers - I had to go to great lengths to find out their life story.

"Most of my books just recall history, but then I realised how many people we had that have achieved things."

Among those featured are Paralympian Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Thomas Atkinson, who was awarded the George Cross, and novelist Jane Gardam, who won the Whitbread novel award twice.

Mrs Robinson said: "I am very pleased with it. It took a long time to do the research and a lot of time and effort went into it.

"It is to let people know in Redcar that we have nurtured these people and it is nice to record them in a book to make Redcar feel proud."

The book is £3, available from Redcar Library, in Coatham Road, and the town's tourist information centre.