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In an interview with former BBC radio presenter Paul Stainton, Gillian Beasley opened up on being at the front of the operation across the county to keep services running and people safe during the crisis.

“It is unrelenting in terms of the responsibilities as a council, but with all of the other people that work together to keep the show on the road,” she said.

“There are times when you hit rock bottom, you’re tired, you’ve worked a huge number of hours, and then there’s a story that comes in of somebody who’s done something amazing and you just go ‘wow’.”

Mrs Beasley regularly used the word “inspiring” to describe the efforts being made in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire to respond to the pandemic and explained how she can receive thousands of pages of government guidance up to 11pm at night.

But as well as talking about how council and health staff have fronted up to an unprecedented challenge - and the huge wellbeing support given to them - the chief executive also spoke about the future, including the need to do contact tracing locally and environmental opportunities once the lockdown ends.

She told Paul: “I am worried, I am concerned, But that’s not going to debilitate me, that’s not going to paralyse my into inaction. It’s going to do the opposite - it’s going to galvanise me into action to make sure we do support people well, even in those difficult times.”

The full interview can be watched at the top of this page or at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpWhpgXUP1k.

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