Magpas chief executive Daryl Brown was at Windsor Castle to receive from the Princess Royal, the MBE awarded him in the Queen’s Birthday Honours last June.

"The investiture was amazing,” he said. “It was so nice to receive the award from Magpas Air Ambulance’s Royal Patron, HRH The Princess Royal.”

He said: “I am a small part of an extraordinary legacy that the charity has built over five decades.

“I really would like to share this award with everyone who has passionately supported the charity and especially helped us keep going over the past two years through Covid.”

Daryl, who has led Magpas for over 12 years, was also appointed last year to be a deputy to Julie Spence, the lord lieutenant of Cambridgeshire.

He previously served as mayor and deputy mayor of Huntingdon, where he lives, and was also a district councillor.

Six years ago, he received the Anglia Ruskin University Alumni Success in Business award.

He also served for six years on the governing body of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.