AN “ordinary” woman has spoken of her shock at being honoured in the Queen’s New Year Honours.

Marion Rowland, of Dovercourt, is to be made an MBE for her services to young people and the community of Harwich.

The Teen Talk manager, who has worked with the group for more than 12 years, discovered the news when a letter arrived six weeks ago.

“I opened it up and I just couldn’t believe it,” said Mrs Rowland, who is also manager at the Electric Palace cinema in Harwich.

“I just kept looking at it and thought that can’t be me. I kept reading it until it sank in.”

The Low Road resident has kept quiet since receiving the news, only telling her husband.

She said: “It’s a wonderful thing to happen to just an ordinary person. But there are a lot of people out there who deserve this more than me.”

Mrs Rowland said becoming an MBE was the “icing on the cake” after she suffered a difficult year with her health.

She added: “I have lost the use of my right arm after I had too much radium following breast cancer. Then I discovered I had polymyalgia rheumatica, which is an inflamation of the muscles.

“But it’s getting to the stage where I can live my life again.”

Mrs Rowland said six people nominated her for the MBE.

She said: “Although I don’t think they would like to be named, I would like to say thank you very much to them. They have given me a tremendous amount of support.”

* The head of Essex Police’s counter terrorism unit is to be honoured for her work.

Det Supt Janet Molloy, who has led the intelligence unit at Essex Police for 16 months, will named an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours. She has served as a police officer for more than 25 years, starting her career with the Metropolitan Police. She worked in Hertfordshire before taking on her current role.