THE chief prosecutor in West Yorkshire has received the OBE.

Neil Franklin, chief prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service in West Yorkshire, was awarded the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's summer honours list.

She presented the medal at Buckingham Palace yesterday.

Mr Franklin, 58, said: "I work with a team of excellent people. This award is a reflection of their commitment and that of our partners in the criminal justice system."

The award comes during Inside Justice Week, a national campaign to give the public a behind-the-scenes view of the criminal justice system.

Mr Franklin qualified as a solicitor in 1975 and worked in private practice in Leeds and Wakefield for four years. He then joined the West Yorkshire Prosecuting Solicitors' Department.

In 1987 he became branch Crown prosecutor for CPS South Yorkshire and in 1991 for Sheffield and Rotherham.

Two years later, he was made assistant chief Crown prosecutor for the CPS Humber and became chief Crown prosecutor for CPS Severn and Thames in 1996.

He took up his present post in 1999.

Mr Franklin took on a special role in this year's football World Cup, making sure all the UK could get football banning orders for England fans prosecuted in Germany.