TV host and goat sanctuary founder receive honours

The founder of a goat sanctuary in Kent said he was "overjoyed and most grateful" to be a recipient of a New Year Honour.

Robert Hitch, who founded the Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats in the village of Boughton Monchelsea, near Maidstone, has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to wildlife conservation.

"I was standing up but I had to sit down very, very quickly. It was a great honour to receive it," Mr Hitch said.

Meanwhile, the Kent-born TV presenter Phil Spencer has been recognised for his work as a patron of homeless charity St Mungo's.

Mr Hitch, 81, said he considered the BEM an "honour for the whole of Buttercups as a charity".

The organisation has rescued almost 1,000 animals since its inception in 1989.

"I am just one person who keeps taking in goats, but if it wasn't for the volunteers who come along each month and each day and the trustees that over the years have helped me, it wouldn't be where it is now," Mr Hitch added.

Spencer, who has worked with St Mungo's since 2010 alongside hosting 44 seasons of Location, Location, Location alongside Kirstie Allsopp, said being appointed an MBE is "a hell of a thing".

He added: "It's not something that I'd ever expected or even thought about. So, it's a huge honour."

Jane Burston, founder and chief executive of Clean Air Fund, has been appointed an OBE for services to air quality.

The charity, which works to tackle global air pollution, has supported the implementation of schemes including the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).

Ms Burston, from Sevenoaks, said the honour was a "tribute to the incredible progress the clean air movement has made".

Meanwhile, Ben Towers, from Gillingham, has been appointed an MBE for services to the startup business community, having set up his first company aged 11.

The now 27-year-old, who hired himself as an apprentice for his marketing and software development firm to stay in education at the same time, said the honour was an "amazing privilege".

Southeastern staff member Mark Jones, 57, has also been awarded the BEM medal for services to community railway.

Mr Jones, from Faversham, has given 40 years of service and is known affectionally as the Herne Bay Railway Historian.

"The railway and my love of my hometown have been a constant over the course of my life, and it was only natural I began to take an interest in the history of both," he said.

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