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Mr Sutcliffe with his daughters Mrs Eileen Hemingway and Mrs Jean Moore.

Former Mayor of Burnley and chairman of Burnley Liberal Association, Mr John Sutcliffe, was decorated with the Order of the British Empire at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, 10th December 1974. Mr Sutcliffe, senior partner in the firm of John Sutcliffe and Sons, solicitors, has devoted much of his life to public service, and was leader of the minority Liberal group on the former Burnley Borough Council. He has recently retired from the forefront of local politics, but still takes an active interest in politics.

He was named in the Birthday Honours List, and says he was both surprised and delighted at being awarded the OBE. He says: "The ceremony was quite an occasion, the sort of thing you regard as a red-letter day." Mr Sutcliffe of Brassey Street, Burnley, travelled to London on Monday, and was accompanied by his two married daughters. He says: "The Queen presented the awards and spoke briefly to each recipient. She asked me what my profession was. More than 200 people received awards and I think the thing that impressed me more than anything else was the absolute efficiency of it all. The entire ceremony lasted about an hour and a half, and we were in and out of the Palace very quickly. It was a very colourful occasion, and everything went very smoothly. I wasn't really nervous; once you get to the Palace you realise that you're not the only pebble on the beach, and besides, it was so well organised."