A North-East Labour MP will next week bid to scrap the honours system in a bid to give more "ordinary people" the rewards they deserve.

Fraser Kemp, MP for Houghton and Washington East, is set to call for the ditching of the OBE, CBE and MBE system.

He will introduce his own piece of legislation designed to replace the existing honours system with a new "Order of the UK".

Mr Kemp told The Northern Echo he wanted to see more ordinary workers and people recognised by the state honours.

Former Tory Prime Minister John Major introduced reforms to open Britain's honours system.

But Mr Kemp said he wanted to go further, saying: "I want to make sure school dinner ladies, postmen, community workers get properly rewarded."

These were the sort of people who had made a ''tremendous contribution'' to the North-East