First woman for national park

One of the last bastions of male dominance in the public service is beginning to crumble. The heavily bearded world of national parks is about to get its first woman chief executive.

Heather Hancock, a 32-year-old who helped set up the Department of National Heritage and the Millennium Commission, has been appointed national park officer for the Yorkshire Dales. She beat 160 other applicants to head the park authority.