THE man whose work has seen the planting of more than 2m trees in St Helens has been recognised in the Queen’s honours list.

Paul Nolan, who is director of The Mersey Forest has been awarded the OBE for his work with the organisation which he has led for 13 years.

One of the major projects he was involved with was the development of woodland at Bold Forest Park surrounding Dream.

The father of three from Warrington who has worked for the Mersey Forest for two decades said: “I am surprised and delighted. It’s great that the achievements of The Mersey Forest have been recognised in this way.

“I’ve been really lucky to work with some fantastic people to help create The Mersey Forest. While I take great personal pride in everything the partnership has achieved over the last 20 years, I’m really grateful to all of my colleagues for making this happen.”