British Army's first female major general 'very honoured'

The British Army's first ever female major general said she was "very honoured" by the new role.

Brigadier Susan Ridge will be promoted to become the service's highest ranking female officer in September.

The mother-of-one said she felt privileged to have been appointed to the role as chief legal advisor to the Army.

She said: "I feel very honoured and privileged to have been given this opportunity."But she told the Press Association she felt "slightly daunted as well" at the appointment.

Brig Ridge, who left the "mundanity" of a civilian law career to join the Army, said the opportunities for women were now far wider than when she joined.

"Certainly, when I did my infantry attachment, I was the only female in the battalion," she said of her time with the Queen's Lancashire Regiment in Berlin in 1992.

"That's not now the case. Women are now in a wide range of roles."