A FORMER prison governor who has managed prisons in North Yorkshire and County Durham has been awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours list.

Norman Griffin has received the honour for his services to public sector prisons, and has been governor at Northallerton Young Offenders' Institute and HM Prison Frankland near Durham.

Mr Griffin, 60, who was on holiday at the time the honours were announced, said to be recognised for his work was "fantastic."

He said: "I'm thrilled about it. It's one of those things where my family are really proud, and that's a lovely feeling.

"I now work part time at the National Offender Management Service but I absolutely loved being governor of prison. I was governor at Northallerton for 12 years and I've had 37 years in the prison service."

Mr Griffin said before his career in the prison service he worked at British Aerospace but he wanted to do something more centred around people.

He said: "A job as a prison officer came up and I went for it – I'm a people person and it just fit straight away.

"I like talking and building relationships, and every day in a prison is very different. The staff I have worked with have been fantastic. At Northallerton it was like a family, and at Frankland there are amazing staff too.

"They were a terrific bunch of people and I'm so grateful I got to work with them."

Mr Griffin said despite some prisoners being difficult to help, he enjoyed seeing the journey many go on to try and improve themselves.

"People can change. At Northallerton, there were a young of young people who hadn't had any good adult role models but wanted to learn skills.

"Frankland was very different but even there, if a prisoner is shown kindness they come to see there is hope.

"If you do the right thing you will get it back, the offenders do appreciate what you do for them.

"Even people doing long sentences for terrible crimes appreciate some kindness and hope."

Mr Griffin said the role of a prison officer is one he would recommend to anyone.

"The rewarding part is the people, colleagues and the offenders."

While governor of Northallerton, Mr Griffin wanted to turn it into a centre that helped offenders integrate back into the community.

Under the scheme, a prisoner, on receiving a visit from his family, was able to leave the facility, within a ten-mile radius, during the visit.

Mr Griffin was described as "pioneering" by the town council for his plans for the facility.