A FARMER, film maker, a former fire chief, a magistrate and a mayor are among the Lancashire great and good to be rewarded in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Blackburn's Mayor and former council leader Peter Greenwood, 57, has been awarded the CBE for his local government work.

Coun Greenwood was chairman of the former Association of District Councils from 1995 to 1997.

"I see this as a collective award for the achievements of the association," he said.

A fire officer who has led a series of international mercy missions has been awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal.

Colin Cunliffe, 55, has just retired after more than 30 years with the Lancashire Fire Brigade.

The former Accrington fire station commander travelled the globe on overseas aid missions, earning a Chief Fire Officer's commendation for his role in rescue operations in the aftermath of the Armenian earthquake.

In November, Mr Cunliffe will join fire service volunteers heading for the refugee camps of the Western Sahara to build stores for Oxfam Food Aid. A member of Church and Oswaldtwistle Rotary Club, he is an enthusiastic sportsman with marathon runs under his belt, as well as a keen walker.

Mr Cunliffe, who has also worked in Blackburn, lives in Clayton-le-Moors with his wife, Joan.

Training chief Jim Hargreaves, chief executive of Blackburn-based Training 2000, has been awarded the MBE.

The former pupil of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, served as an apprentice with English Electric in Clayton-le-Moors, later joining British Northrop and in 1967 joined the Blackburn Group Training Association. He later became chief executive of Training 2000, formed by the merger of the Blackburn group and its counterpart in Accrington.

"I was pleasantly surprised and it is nice to be recognised. But this is something which should be shared with all the people who have have supported me over the years and who have helped make Training 2000 what it is today," said Jim, of Rishton, a chartered engineer. Well-known Hyndburn figure Indira Batra has picked up an MBE for her work with the Asian community.

Mrs Batra was supervisor of Hyndburn's Asian Advice Centre for 10 years and also serves as a magistrate and as a non-executive director of Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Trust.

During her time with the centre she was involved with helping Asian families with immigration difficulties, social security benefits, education and counselling, before she retired last year. MBEs go to a Bolton-by-Bowland farmer and a Blackburn military policeman.

Fred Waddington receives his MBE for services to Slaidburn Young Farmers.

Fred, who is in his 70s, has been active in organising young farmers' clubs throughout the Settle and Slaidburn area for around 50 years and is also involved in the Lane Ends Community Centre and the Holden Chapel.

"I always liked a good 'do'," said a delighted Fred, of Stephenson's Farm, Lane Ends. "I always say a smile and a cheery word make life so much sweeter."

RAF policeman Ian David Clarke also gets an MBE for his sterling military service.

Ian, 40, from Blackburn, is a sergeant currently serving at RAF Laarbruch, a Harrier jump-jet base in Germany. A married man with no children, he joined the RAF in 1974.

Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, from Preston, is looking forward to a really "Grand Day Out" at Buckingham Palace after being awarded the CBE.

The triple Oscar winner began making animated films in his parents' attic in Lancashire when he was just 13. And the Park family's local milk farmer, James Shorrock of Longton, has been awarded the MBE for services to the dairy industry.

Professor Margaret Ann MacKeith, pro-vice chancellor at the University of Central Lancashire, has been awarded the CBE for services to Higher Education.

Chorley probation officer Jean McEvoy has been awarded the MBE for services as a probation officer while she worked at HMP Prison, Preston. Lancashire County Fire Brigade's principal fire control officer Susan Parke-Hatton, from Fulwood, whose husband Gerard is a former Haslingden councillor was awarded the MBE for her services to the fire brigade.

Other Lancashire honours include: John Billington, MBE for services to the Friends of Preston Acute Hospitals Trust and former receptionist and telephonist Mrs Edith Crook, of Chorley, MBE for services to the North British Housing Association.

Lancashire's deputy chief constable Gerald O'Connell has been awarded the Queen's Police Medal for distinguished service.

Mr O'Connell, 53, has been a police officer for 37 years and lives in Preston.

During his career he has helped police the Toxteth riots as well as political party conferences.

He said he regarded the award as "national recognition for the Lancashire Constabulary and the work and commitment the whole force is putting into the policing reforms in the county."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.