GRANDMOTHER-OF-FOUR Mildred Howell officially retired from teaching in the mid-Nineties.

She was tempted back on a short term basis by a former colleague who asked for her help.

Eight years later, she is still helping out at Hurworth School of Maths and Computing, near Darlington, and was honoured with an MBE in the New Year list.

She said: "I thought the letter was a hoax. I still do not know who nominated me, but it is such a privilege. I love teaching."

Mrs Howell, 62, lives in Sedgefield, with her husband Walter, 68.

Last year, she was named North-East secondary school teacher of the year. The couple both worked at Wellfield School, Durham, but Mrs Howell took early retirement.

She was coaxed back into the classroom by former Wellfield colleague Eammon Farrar, who was then headteacher at Hurworth. She said: "Working with young people is brilliant. It is different every day, you see all aspects of life."

Primary school headteacher Jim McManners has been made an OBE. His school, Cassop Primary, near Durham, was the first school in the country to get a wind turbine in its grounds. Since then, it has added solar panels and introduced a scheme to heat the school using recycled wood waste.

Mr McManners has been headteacher of Cassop Primary for nearly 30 years. Before that, he was a teacher at Dean Bank School, in Ferryhill.

PC Lynda Hutchinson has been awarded the Queen's Police Medal. PC Hutchinson, 36, based at Newton Aycliffe, received the honour for her work as co-ordinator of the Durham Youth Enterprise Scheme, run by Durham police.