A SOLDIER from Broughton Gifford has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours list.

The parents of former George Ward School pupil Major Andrew Wright, 36, have just found out he is to be honoured.

His mother, Kathy, said: "We are very proud of him."

Major Wright, who will collect his MBE at a ceremony later this year, went to George Ward School in Melksham, then on to Aberystwyth University, before attending the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst.

Since then he has been posted to many different countries, including Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Iraq and, in 2000, he was awarded a Queen's Commendation in the New Year's Honours list. He also spent two years on an exchange programme in Australia, where he met his future wife, Linda. The couple now live in Winchester.