A TOP scientist from Huddersfield has been honoured - as a super bug buster!

Twenty years of research has brought a national award for a Huddersfield professor.

The honour will also mean his portrait is hung in a national gallery of famous chemists.

University of Huddersfield Professor of Chemistry Michael Page is one of this year's recipients of the prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry awards, presented in London by the president and Nobel Laureate, Prof Sir Harry Kroto.

Prof Page has been recognised for his invaluable contributions in the field of organic reactivity, and chiefly for his research into stopping bacteria from becoming resistant to penicillin, a project which has received Government and European backing.

Beating the `super-bugs' is now vital work. The growing immunity of bacterial infections to antibiotics like penicillin is a major concern within the health profession and the Department of Health.

The awards are presented by the historic society in several fields to leading academics and researchers in recognition of their international achievements as chemical scientists.

Prof Page is the only academic in West Yorkshire to receive an award.

The Huddersfield professor has also been invited to join the Society's collection of portraits of famous scientists extending back to the 16th century.

He received the award in the category of Organic Reaction Mechanisms, which is sponsored by chemical corporation Avecia Ltd. Recipients receive a silver engraved medal and £500.

Michael Page has been at Huddersfield since 1973, where he is Dean of the School of Applied Sciences.

He studied chemistry at Brighton, took his PhD with eminent chemist Brian Capon, and later post-doctoral research with the celebrated Bill Jencks and R P Bell.

He has been a member of leading research funding agencies, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and is chairman of the Heads of Polytechnic Chemistry Departments.

"Penicillin and other related antibiotics became available in the 1950s," said Prof Page. "And although advances have been made in strength and effectiveness, most can now be swept aside by the current strains of super bacteria.

"These, in turn, break down the resistance of the sufferer and in some cases, particularly with the young and the elderly, can lead to long-term illness and even death."