AN EX-BROMLEY police officer has been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Chief Superintendent Matt Bell, who served at Bromley between 2003 and 2009 as both a Chief Inspector and the Deputy Borough Commander, is receiving an MBE the Birthday Honours for his work in the borough of Barking.

Mr Bell, now the borough commander for Lambeth, was chosen to restructure the area to help bring the community and police together as relations had broken down.

He said: "I've had a fantastic 27 years in the Met and this award is the icing on the cake.

“It was a challenging time in Barking but the plans worked and it's a completely different borough now to the one it was before".

Before joining Lambeth as Borough Commander earlier this year Mr Bell was the borough commander of Barking and Dagenham in east London.

Before this he served in Bromley as the deputy borough commander and Southwark and Peckham as both a constable and an inspector, and at Woolwich and Bromley as a sergeant and chief inspector.