Queen's Birthday Honours MBE for search and rescue founder

When a letter marked Cabinet Office arrived at Paul Arnill's house six weeks ago, he assumed it was a tax demand.

Instead, the 46-year-old discovered he was appointed MBE for services to Cambridgeshire Search and Rescue, an organisation he founded in 2006.

He received the award in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Others honoured included academics and those involved with charity work and their local communities.

Mr Arnill, from Doddington near March, said: "The trouble is, the actual letter is laser printed, you expect it to be bit more fancy and embossed, so my initial reaction after assuming it was a tax demand was it's a wind-up.

"So I rang the number on the letter to make sure someone wasn't trying to pull a fast one."

The self-employed close protection officer said he set up the organisation at the request of Cambridgeshire Police, who knew he was a founding member of Essex Search and Rescue.

The voluntary group now helps the emergency services search for vulnerable missing people and is available every day of the year.

Mr Arnill, who stepped down from Cambridgeshire Search and Rescue last year, said it had helped "in excess of" 250 people over the years.

He added keeping the honour a secret had been "the longest six weeks of his life".

Others honoured in Cambridgeshire include a knighthood for Prof Harshad Bhadeshia, Tata Steel Professor of Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge, for his services to science and technology and an OBE for Sharon Allen, chief executive officer of Skills for Care, for services to social care, homeless people and housing.

Regina Allanah, who lives in Peterborough, received the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the community at Victim Support Haringey in London, particularly after the riots in 2011.