Former Ledbury Grammar School pupil Anne Griffiths has received on OBE in the New Year Honours list for her work on the City Hall in London.

Ms Griffiths, who was at the school in the 1960s, was project co-ordinator for the City Hall development, which will effectively house an elected "parliament" for the capital, under the banner of the Greater London Authority.

Her elderly mother, May Gilks, still lives in Ledbury.

Ms Griffiths, who now lives in Hertfordshire, said: "Of course, my mother is extremely proud of me."

Peter Harling, a friend of the family and chairman of Herefordshire Council, said: "It's tremendous news. Anne is a very nice girl and a lot of people who went to school with her will be pleased."

Ms Griffiths, who launched her own business just two weeks ago, as an advisor for the procurement of major building works, was employed for 31 years as a Civil Servant.

For most of that time she worked for the Lord Chancellor's Department, but for the past four years she was "on loan" to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, as the City Hall project got under way.

Although she did not actually work with the Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Griffiths did have contact with the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, whom she described as "excellent and supportive. She said: "I didn't expect an OBE. I was simply doing my job as far as I was concerned and I accepted the honour for the whole of the team effort over four years."

Under Ms Griffiths' guidance, the City Hall project was completed on time and within budget.

n As previously reported in by the Ledbury Reporter, local solicitor William Masefield was made an MBE for his services to health care in the town.