THREE Herefordshire women and three men have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Community stalwarts Rita Langford, Marion Percy and Irene Phillips were awarded the British Empire Medal.

While David Parker and Andy Taylor received OBEs and Michael Starbuck was given an MBE.

RITA Langford was recognised for services to the community and to charity in Kington. In 2009 she set up the Community and District Charity Shop in Kington, which has since raised in excess of £450,000. Each week a different organisation uses the shop in the High Street to sell second hand goods. They pay £100 towards the cost of running the shop, but get to keep every penny of the rest of the money they make. Churches, village halls and other groups within a ten mile radius are welcome. Mrs Langford, 70, said: "I didn't realise it would be so successful- I never dreamt it would raise so much money. Everybody in this town are very supportive. It makes a huge difference." She said she could not have done it without her husband, Ron. Speaking about the award, she said: "I didn't want to accept it but my husband said it was a thing to be very proud of."

DAVID Parker, a theology professor from Bromyard said he is ‘honoured’ to have been awarded an OBE for his services to higher education. The 62-year-old is director of the Institute for the Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing at Birmingham University’s department of theology and religion. He specialises in studying the New Testament – the text and manuscripts in which it was copied until the invention of printing and uses new digital technologies to make editions and transcriptions of those manuscripts.

Growing up in Cambridgeshire as the son of a clergyman, Professor Parker said he always had an interest in theology but became ‘fascinated’ with the ways in which copies differed from each other.

The father-of-four, who is also tower captain for Bromyard Deanery, said of the honour: “It’s something that really came out of the blue, it was completely unexpected and it’s exciting for me but I also think it’s a great for my discipline and for the people that I work with and everything we do.”

He will be giving a lecture at Hereford Cathedral on October 8.

COMMUNITY stalwart, Marion Percy, said she has always been happy to take on tasks that needed to be completed in Colwall.

Having moved to the village in the 1970s, Mrs Percy joined the local church fairly early on and while her husband, David Percy, was a parish councillor, she took up a more active role in village after he died.

The 85-year-old joined a number of committees, though much of her time was taken up as a church warden and she was also booking clerk for the village hall for more than 20 years, only retiring from the role around four or five years ago.

Other activities – such as litter picks – have also been part of Mrs Percy’s work in the community.

She said she was surprised to have received the award, which was for services to the community in Colwall, but was grateful to the kind people in the community.

IRENE Phillips was awarded for voluntary service to first aid. She has volunteered for St John Ambulance for 48 years and has served as divisional treasurer of the Kington unit since 1969. She is actively involved with the unit’s youth programmes, supporting youngsters’ fundraising activities and acting as treasurer for the Cadet Unit. Mrs Phillips is also a founder member of Kington and Weobley Leg Club, which provides support to locals suffering from wounds and ulcers, and works in the hospice shop in Kington. She is an active member of her local church, helping with fundraising events and also volunteers for Kington Tourist Information Office. Mrs Phillips said: “This is an enormous honour and was so unexpected. I have been involved with St John Ambulance for so many years and love what I do.

"It’s a privilege to be involved with such a wonderful charity and this honour also recognises the wonderful work of my colleagues in the Kington Unit.”

COLONEL Andy Taylor was awarded an OBE for his service with the Hereford and Worcester Army Cadet Force. He has been Commandant for three years and said: "You get a sense of reward when you see the young cadets coming in at 12-year-olds and then leaving at 18 as young men and women about to be launched out into the world." He joined the cadet force as a volunteer in the 70s before joining the army. He retired as Lieutenant Colonel in 2008 and moved back to Herefordshire. The 61-year-old from Weston Beggard said: "I am extremely pleased and proud. Certainly it is a personal award but the support I have had from all of the instructors in the battalion has been superb. They can be as proud of the award as I am." He is currently also the curator of the Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum.

MICHAEL Starbuck, a higher executive officer for the Ministry of Defence, was given an MBE for services to defence.