Exhibit 23.b

              Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm Consent


The Board of Directors
First Bancorp

We consent to the  incorporation by reference to the  Registration  Statement of
First  Bancorp on Form S-8 relating to the First  Bancorp 2004 Stock Option Plan
(File no. 333-118570), Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statement on Form S-8
relating to the First  Bancorp 1994 Stock Option Plan (File no.  033-82542)  and
the  Registration  Statement of First  Bancorp on Form S-8 relating to the First
Bancorp 1994 Stock Option Plan (File no. 333-58668),  the Registration Statement
on Form S-3D  relating to the First  Bancorp  Dividend  Reinvestment  and Common
Stock Purchase Plan (File no. 333-117575),  the Registration  Statement of First
Bancorp on Form S-8 relating to three First Savings  Bancorp,  Inc. stock option
plans (File no. 333-51798),  the Registration Statement of First Bancorp on Form
S-8 relating to the Century Bancorp stock option plan (File no. 333-65296),  and
the  Registration on Form S-8 relating to the Amended and Restated First Bancorp
CCB  Non-Qualified  Stock Option Plan (File no.  333-103741) of our report dated
March 6, 2005, with respect to the  consolidated  balance sheet of First Bancorp
and  subsidiaries  as  of  December  31,  2004,  and  the  related  consolidated
statements of income,  comprehensive income, shareholders' equity and cash flows
for each of the years in the  two-year  period ended  December  31, 2004,  which
report  appears in the  December  31, 2005  Annual  Report on Form 10-K of First
Bancorp.



/s/ KPMG LLP

Charlotte, North Carolina
March 7, 2006