IT was a case of ‘after ewe’ as a former Hereford mayor joined Freemen of the City of London to take part in an ancient tradition.

Councillor Marcelle Lloyd-Hayes, herself a Freeman of the City, drove sheep over London Bridge to benefit good causes.

Dressed in a bright yellow wig and a tshirt with the message ‘I’m just a woolly jumper’, Coun Lloyd-Hayes set about moving her sheep across the Thames.

“They were incredibly well-behaved and I called mine Bella. There were one or two doing a bit of headbutting but we had a sheep handler just in case there were problems,” she said.

Despite the occasion appearing slightly baa-rmy there was a serious point. “It is a right that has been given to Freemen for centuries and I feel strongly about these – if you don’t exercise them you lose them,”

said Coun Lloyd-Hayes.

“The idea was you had to get sponsorship to do it and it looks as though we raised £100,000 for Wellbeing of Women and Orbis.”