A HEREFORDSHIRE based MEP has been honoured by the European Taxpayers' Association for her outstanding work in standing up for small business.

Anthea McIntyre, Conservative MEP for the West Midlands, received the award for her work on the European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee, where she is co-ordinator for the European Conservatives and Reformists Group.

Her work there has included a series of reports and initiatives promoting better regulation and highlighting the damage red tape does to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Earlier this year she presented the EU Commission a report on how an annual burden survey should be applied to gauge the impact of legislation on business.

And in coming weeks she will publish a report promoting nudge theory, which explores how better information and persuasion can work better than hitting business with legislation and compulsion.

Miss McIntyre said: "I am delighted to have been awarded this certificate of honour from an organisation which wants only the best for taxpayers.

"Small to medium-sized enterprises are the life blood of our economy and when they do well, business as a whole does well.

"They are the green shoots of our prosperity and we must nurture them. They need the space and freedom to grow - not strangling by over-regulation.

"This has been my goal throughout my time in Brussels."