AN MP visited a retiring college headteacher yesterday to say thank you to him for doing a great job.

Howard Clarke has stepped down as head of Stockton Sixth Form College and from 35 years of working in post-16 education.

Stockton South MP Dari Taylor, who called in to see him, said: "Howard has made a fabulous contribution to education in the Tees area over three decades and, in the past few years, has provided Stockton Sixth Form College with excellent leadership.

"Under his guidance, the college has acquired a reputation for providing quality education, a fact noted in last year's Ofsted report and confirmed again with this summer's A-level results, which saw the college achieve a 95 per cent pass rate for the third successive year.''