The woman selected to be the SNP candidate in the forthcoming Kilwinning by-election has vowed to fight to improve road safety for schoolkids.

Whitehirst Park resident Sheila Gibson was announced as the party's candidate a few days ago and will face four others in the battle to win the seat on May 9.

It follows the death of Conservative councillor John Glover back in February.

High on her list of priorities is concern for the safety of school children, especially near Kilwinning Academy.

She intends to look at how Dalry Road can be made a safer place for all.

Ms Gibson said: "North Ayrshire needs a strong council invested in the interests of residents to fight poverty, create better communities, and help the well-being of Kilwinning people, and that is why I am standing.

"Above all I am standing because I care about everyone in Kilwinning."

Ms Gibson ran in the same ward at the last full council election in May 2022.

Mr Glover pipped her at the sixth round of counting two years ago, when he was elected alongside Joe Cullinane (Labour), Scott Davidson (SNP) and Donald Reid (Labour).

Currently a support foster carer, Sheila has worked mainly as a bio-medical scientist at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. She has also spent time in teaching and has a strong interest and involvement in children’s welfare issues

She has always been a strong campaigner for Kilwinning. Sheila was part of the demonstration to keep the Royal Bank of Scotland open and a strong advocate of the return of banking facilities to the town via the new hub.

She said she was proud that the SNP-led council had managed to keep the library and community centres in Kilwinning open she saw them as a vital part of our local society.

Sheila is also fully supportive of the upgrade to the B714, which should help to reduce the number of heavy goods vehicles coming through the town and using the Woodwynd area of the town as a short cut.

She said: "I got a Labour leaflet through my door, criticising the SNP administration for doing nothing in Kilwinning.

"People forget that it is the current SNP administration that have been the driving force behind the projects that Labour are taking credit for.

"The council house building programme in Kilwinning would be unlikely to be going ahead without the SNP Government giving £70,000 per house for all new council house building in Scotland.

"The SNP have also, where possible, lessened the impact of Westminster cuts. Without SNP policies, both national and local, the impact on Kilwinning would have been much harder.

"In recent years Labour has promised much but have delivered little. Keir Starmer has backtracked on so many policies. How can the people of Kilwinning trust Labour not to do the same at a local level?"

She faces a total of four other candidates in her fight to win the seat: Mary Hume for Labour, Ruby Kirkwood for the Liberal Democrats, Chris Lawler for the Conservatives, and Ian Charles Gibson for the Scottish Family Party.