A FORMER RAF squadron leader, now working at a Selby school, said today he was delighted to have been included in the New Year's Honours list.

Tim Fenton, bursar at Read School, Drax, was awarded an MBE for his work for the RAF and communities in North Yorkshire and Cumbria.

Mr Fenton, 39, of Eastrington, joined the RAF in 1984 after stints working for the Foreign Office and Lloyds bank.

In the RAF, he ran support and administration operations for air force personnel and their families.

He is particularly proud of bereavement counselling work he has undertaken as well as support work for service families and ex-RAF personnel.

He was involved in a major bereavement counselling operation following the death of two airmen when a Hawk aeroplane crashed at Shap, Cumbria, in 1998.

He retired from RAF Leeming, his final posting, last summer.

Mr Fenton, who is married with a one-year-old son, said he expected to receive the award at Buckingham Palace later this year.

Updated: 14:17 Tuesday, January 08, 2002