A former Huddersfield man has been awarded an honour by the Queen.

Chief Superintendent Richard Wood, Borough Commander for Lambeth in London, was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal (QPM) in the New Year Honours.

On accepting his QPM, Chief Supt Wood, said: “When I joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 1988 as a 17-year-old from Huddersfield I had no idea where my career would take me – I was simply happy to have fulfilled my childhood dreams of being a police officer on the beat!”

He grew up in Lindley, went to Lindley Junior School, Salendine Nook High School and then onto Huddersfield New College for a year.

Ch Supt Richard Wood, formerly of Huddersfield, now with the Metropolitan Police is also awarded a QPM.

He joked: “Both me and New College agreed academic study wasn’t for me.”

But it didn’t hold him back.

He applied to West Yorkshire Police but was talked out of it, then he saw an advert for the Met Cadets at the Metropolitan Police in London.

He said: “I jumped on the train and the rest is history.

“I’d never been to London before my interview. I was selected and six weeks later I started.

“Aged 17 it was quite an adventure to leave Huddersfield for London, the city wooed me.”

He joined the service as a police cadet and became a constable a year later.

And he’s not the sole Yorkshireman in his patch - among the workforce of 1,000 he leads includes a police officer from Honley and another from Moldgreen.

“I can still pick a Yorkshire accent out,” he joked.

His borough, once described by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary as one of the most challenging policing environments in Western Europe, has seen a period of stability in community policing and unprecedented crime reduction.

On the award, he said: “It’s an honour to be awarded this, I’m the Borough Commander for Lambeth and this is a challenging area.”

“Although I have never sought recognition, to receive this award represents the pinnacle of my 30 years in policing and I am absolutely overwhelmed that I should be acknowledged in this way.

“It demonstrates the opportunities that policing offers to those from a humble background and it is equally representative of the many dedicated and talented colleagues I have worked with over the years; indeed this is their award as much as it is mine.”

Recent notable achievements include working closely with a bereaved mother whose son was murdered to set up a community-police boxing club focused on supporting young people.