Northampton pensioner who took borough council to task over benches and loos will feature on BBC1

In 2017, Dagmar King led a tour-de-force against the local authority to demand a set of benches and new loos for the town's coach station on Victoria Street.

It saw the 70-year-old from Abington gather 400 signatures so her elderly friends could have somewhere to sit while waiting for a bus.

When that did not get the council's attention, she tracked down Councillor Tim Hadland at a council tea dance while she wore a hat with handmade model loos and benches on the brim.

Eventually, the council installed two benches just hours before she was due to give a speech to the full council to demand a response.

Now, the BBC1 programme "Holding Back The Years" has made a feature of Dagmar's campaign and will broadcast her story on Thursday (November 1).

Dagmar said: "The BBC said they wanted to film me for a show. I was gobsmacked. I was like, 'are you sure?'

"I'm no one special. I did it for the town. It's just that back then, it all made me so angry they were spending so much on a useless bus station but nothing on just having some benches to sit on at the coach station."

The BBC also interviewed Chronicle & Echo reporter Alastair Ulke about how Dagmar's story hit the headlines, and will also appear on the programme.

Dagmar said: "They were very nice when they came down to talk to me. We had lunch together and they were very good to talk to."

Dagmar will feature on "Holding Back the Years" on November 1 on BBC1 at 9.15am. The show will also be available on iPlayer and catch-up for a month after broadcast.