Three Plymouth figures awarded Freedom of the City

Three public figures in Plymouth have been awarded the Freedom of the City.

Councillors voted to make Sir Gary Streeter, Kevin Nancekivell and Linda Gilroy honorary freemen at a full city council meeting on Monday.

Sir Gary and Ms Gilroy were chosen for their political contributions, while Mr Nancekivell was acknowledged for his work with Plymouth Argyle Football Club.

Lord Mayor of Plymouth Tina Tuohy said the award recognised each individual's "outstanding leadership and contributions to the public".

Sir Gary started his career in politics in 1986, becoming an MP for Plymouth Sutton between 1992 and 1997.

He was later re-elected as the MP for South West Devon from 1997 to 2024.

He said: "It has been an absolute privilege to serve so many Plymouth residents for over 30 years as their member of parliament.

"I am very grateful to the city council for bestowing such an honour upon me."

Ms Gilroy began her journey in Plymouth politics in 1987, when she was elected as the secretary to the Plymouth Drake Constituency Labour Party.

She was the MP for Plymouth Sutton for 13 years between 1997 and 2010.

Ms Gilroy said: "In thanking the Lord Mayor and the council for this honour, I would like to pay tribute to Plymouth City Council's award-winning work.

"During my time representing the city this helped many campaigns succeed. These included bringing down the dockyard wall and the regeneration of Devonport still flowing from this."

Mr Nancekivell said he was "incredibly honoured" to receive the award for his work at Argyle.

He joined the first-team coaching staff in 2011 and has taken caretaker charge of the club five times throughout his career, with fans often referring to him as Mr Plymouth Argyle.

Mr Nancekivell told BBC Radio Devon: "I'm really proud and really honoured to think that the city councillors feel I merit this award, but listen I think it's an award for the whole football club really.

"There's so many people in the background... office staff, the ground staff, the cleaners, the kitchen staff, I could go on and on and on.

"They deserve a lot of recognition for it, and I do see it as a club award as much as an individual one for myself."

The lord mayor said: "I would like to thank them for all the incredible work that they do.

"A huge congratulations to them all."

Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].