The 53-year-old from Norfolk Park has penned poems and short stories for children and adults during a writing career which began as a child in Delhi, writing simple stories about parrots and squirrels.

She worked at British Steel in Rotherham before retraining as a teacher and then, in the 1990s, becoming a full-time writer of over 40 books.

Among her successes is The Song of the Scythe, a children's book about the days of steelmaking at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet which has been translated into Bengali, Arabic, Urdu and Cantonese.

The man who has helped shape public transport in South Yorkshire for the last decade has been awarded an OBE.

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Roy Wicks, Director General of South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, will retire next March after 10 years working in South Yorkshire and 40 years in the public sector.

The 60-year-old from Cawthorne, regarded as having transformed SYPTE into a dynamic, innovative, forward-thinking organisation, told The Star it was "a very, very pleasant surprise" when he received the letter informing him of his OBE.

"It was a big surprise and much appreciated," he said. "I am particularly proud of the last 10 years and what we have done at South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive because it has made a difference," he said. That can be seen in physical signs such as the new station in Sheffield and interchanges in Barnsley and Doncaster that will be there for years to come."

Sheffield magistrate Christopher John Atkinson receives an OBE for his services to the Administration of Justice in the city, and another OBE goes to Sheffield man David Whitman who works as a Corporate Services manager with Jobcentre Plus, at the Department for Work and Pensions.
A Rotherham councillor who was part of a working party set up to tackle extremism in the wake of the London terror bombings has been awarded the MBE.

Mahroof Hussain from Eastwood was appointed by the Government to join the working party after the terrorist attacks in 2005 with the aim of forging closer links with the Muslim communities. Coun Hussain, 39, Rotherham's Cabinet Member for Communities and Involvement, receives his award for services to local government.

A local magistrate, he recently helped to organise fundraising events for the victims of the Catcliffe floods, raising over £5,000, and last year he travelled to South East Asia to se for himself the effects of the earthquake which killed 80,000 people. On his return he gave a heart-tugging presentation to fellow councillors called 'Six MInutes of Hell on Earth' illustrated with his own pictures.

David Wadkin, vice chairman of governors at Oakwood Technology College in Rotherham, gets an MBE for services to education.
He has played a major role in overseeing the transformation of Oakwood Comprehensive into a Technology College and is also chairman of the popular Oakwood Real Ale and Music Festival - now one of Britain's biggest - which has raised tens of thousands of pounds for school funds.

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