Scarborough-born Ken Allison made a CBE in New Year's Honours List

Ken Allison went to Scarborough Boys High School, Graham School and Scarborough Sixth Form College.

He is now the Environment Agency’s director of allocation and asset management, based in Exmouth.

Mr Allison said the award was ‘an incredible and humbling privilege that reflects the hard work and dedication of people and organisations who manage flood and coastal risk in this country’.

In addition to 10 years in the private sector as a civil engineer in the UK, Middle East and Asia, Mr Allison has dedicated more than 25 years of his professional career working for the Environment Agency.

His current role includes planning the allocation of funds and resources across the country to reduce risks to people, property and the environment.

Mr Allison, whose father David and his stepmother Lorna still live in Scarborough, is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a graduate of Loughborough and Leeds Universities

The Environment Agency said that he has ‘displayed outstanding dedication and expertise combined with exceptional leadership to the flood and coastal risk management industry’ and in the past 10 years has managed investment in flood defences to improve protection to over 500,000 homes.