SALISBURY’S circuit judge and the leader of Wiltshire Council are among those to be honoured in this year’s New Year Honours list.

Judge Keith Cutler has been given a CBE for services to the administration of justice for the unpaid work he has carried out in his spare time with the Council of Circuit judges, representing the 600-plus judges who make up the backbone of the judicial system in the UK.

He said: “It is very exciting. It’s not an award for doing my job as a judge, it’s for the work I have done with the judges’ council. It has been time consuming but very interesting and rewarding.”

Wiltshire Council leader Jane Scott has been given an OBE for services to local government. She said: “I am as pleased as I am surprised to receive this honour which I regard as being one for Wiltshire, our lovely county.

“It has been a very good year for Wiltshire’s Council and I wish I could share this award with all the officers and members who have supported me in my 15 years in local government.”

Also picking up an OBE are Madeleine, Lady Bessborough, who established a sculpture park at Roche Court, Winterslow, for services to the visual arts and Captain Duncan Glass, from Salisbury, formerly the director of navigation requirements for the Department of Transport.

MBEs go to Salisbury’s Kathleen Jenkins, senior case adviser with HM Treasury’s freedom of information team, Helen Adair Jenkins for services to the community in Durrington and Gilda Newsham from Woodgreen.

Mrs Newsham, 72, has devoted the past 12 years to the New Forest branch of the Alzheimer’s Society and, like others honoured, was notified in November.

She said: “I was flabbergasted when it came in mid November. I thought the envelope looked interesting but then wondered if I’d done something wrong as it looked so official. When I opened it I was speechless.”

Helen Jenkins has fostered children for more than 30 years while raising five youngsters of her own. Despite this she has also found time to be a school governor, teach the piano, play the church organ and lead Durrington Christian Fellowship.

She said: “I have not got a clue who nominated me for this or why – I do not feel worthy.”

* For a full report see the January 7 edition of the Salisbury Journal.