AS part of Toast of Trafford - a campaign celebrating all that is brilliant about the area - Messenger is looking for sparkling candidates who should be given Freedom of the Borough.

Freedom of the Borough is an honour bestowed by local authorities throughout the UK, recognising an outstanding contribution or achievement made by esteemed community members.

The most recent recipients were Mercury Award-winning band Elbow and film director Danny Boyle, who swept the board at this year’s Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire, when they were granted freedom of their homestead, Bury, earlier this month.

Trafford Council’s leader, Cllr Matt Colledge, said: "We are always keen to celebrate the achievements of local people and, as part of my new role as leader, I will be looking at the ways we can achieve this.

“This could mean bestowing the Freedom of the Borough where it was truly merited."

Messenger has already come up with some ideas about who we’d like to see receive this accolade and we’re inviting readers to offer their own suggestions.

Davyhulme born Steven Patrick Morrissey marked his 50th birthday with two gigs at Manchester’s Apollo last weekend. The legendary songsmith rose to fame more than 25 years ago as lead vocalist and lyricist for The Smiths, also made up of Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce.

The talented four-piece were responsible for a score of hits including ‘This Charming Man’, ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’, and ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’.

After the band broke up in 1987 Morrissey embarked on a successful solo career and is famed for lyrics that explore such themes as relationships, adoloescence and sexuality.

Morrissey was born in 1959 at Park Hospital (now Trafford General). He grew up in Stretford, and attended St Mary's Secondary Modern School and Stretford Technical School.

Despite shunning Trafford for life in Los Angeles, Rome and Paris, Morrissey has helped raise the profile of the borough. He has namechecked Trafford landmarks in his lyrics, spawned dozens of imitators, had scores of books written about him and a bus tour even tracks his earlier years.

He may have a reputation for being egotistical and scathing - think of his “Je suis Morrissey” motto - but he is without doubt a homegrown talent.

Ian Brown, musician and former lead singer of The Stone Roses, was educated at Heyes Lane Infant and Junior School, in Timperley, and then went to Altrincham Grammar School For Boys.

The first gig Brown, aged 46, attended was to see Joy Division gig at Bowdon Vale Social Club in 1978 and he is regarded by many to be one of the founding members of the Madchester scene.

Since The Stone Roses broke up in 1996, Brown has released five solo albums and 12 UK top 40 singles. He has appeared on several club tours and has performed at Somerset’s Glastonbury Festival on numerous occasions.

Paul Abbott, 49, is a BAFTA award-winning English television screenwriter who lives in Trafford. He has worked on popular series, including Coronation Street and Cracker and he created Channel 4’s Shameless.

He is also responsible for television dramas such as Reckless, starring Robson Green, Touching Evil for ITV and Clocking Off and State of Play for the BBC, which was made into a film this year with Russell Crowe.

Scottish footballer Denis Law, 69, who enjoyed a successful career with both Manchester United and Manchester City, now lives in Bowdon.

His career began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years there Manchester City signed him for a transfer fee of £55,000, setting a new British record.

Law spent one year there before Italian team Torino bought him for £110,000. Law played well in Italy but found it difficult to settle there and signed for Manchester United in 1962, setting another British record transfer fee of £115,000.

He is best known for the 11 years that he spent at United, where he scored 237 goals in 409 appearances and was nicknamed the King and the Lawman by supporters.

Law left Manchester United in 1973 and returned to Manchester City for a season, then represented Scotland in the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

He is United's second highest goalscorer behind Bobby Charlton and holds a record for scoring 46 goals in a single season.

Tell us who makes the cut for you by emailing hannah.al-taraboulsy@messengergrp.co.uk, writing to Toast of Trafford, Messenger Newspapers, 7 Crossford Court, Dane Road, Sale, Cheshire, M33 7BZ or leave your suggestions below.