OBE for Alison McDonald

She has been recognised for her work with the Inland Revenue and Customs, particularly in the Portsmouth location where she is now based and in charge of 600 staff.

She said this week the OBE was a complete surprise and she felt "delighted and honoured at the same time".

Alison, now 42, lives in Chichester but her parents Dick and Anne Whitington are still resident in Turkey Road.

Dick said: "When she was at school she was a very popular girl, but did not really apply herself, and actually left with just a few GCSE's, so she did her academic work afterwards."

Alison began as a clerk in Bexhill, at the police station which was then where the Inland Revenue was based, and when she moved to Hastings became the project officer in charge of combining two branches and re-siting the entire office.

Meanwhile as well as taking Inland Revenue qualifications she studied with the Open University and gained a degree independently.

The youngest of four children, she then worked her way up through to her present position as a senior civil servant, and has been responsible for re-organising and improving the service offered to customers in the Portsmouth location.

She combines her career with running a home and caring for three children - meanwhile she remains in touch with her old school friends from Bexhill and visits her family often.

Dick said: "She only told us about the OBE on New Year's Eve. She said to us - Did you see that Kylie Minogue has got an OBE?

"I made some disparaging remark and then Alison said - Well, I have got one as well."