ACTOR Martin Clunes and the former leader of Poole Council Elaine Atkinson are among the Dorset residents recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Elaine Atkinson is set to be awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the honours for services to local government.

The Lancashire-born accountant, who has been a Poole councillor for 20 years, made history in 2010 when she became the first woman to head a Dorset council.

She steered the borough through challenging times as local government finances came under enormous pressure, and led the Conservatives to a landslide victory in May’s election - only to be deposed as leader a few days later.

She counts among her finest achievements her part in a successful campaign for a women’s refuge in Poole, and in more recent years her work to build relationships between the public and private sectors in Poole.

She said: “It was a complete surprise and I feel so honoured.”

Actor and presenter Martin Clunes will be awarded an OBE for services to drama, charity and the community in Dorset.

He is well known for his charity work, including local commitments as patron of Children’s hospice Julia’s House and the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy at Bransgore.

He and his wife Philippa have a farm at Beaminster in Dorset, where they hold the annual Buckham Fair for charity.

A stalwart of Swanage RNLI Captain Neil Michael Hardy, from Worth Matravers, will be awarded his Member of the British Empire medal for services to maritime safety after dedicating a quarter of a century to the overall running of the Swanage Lifeboat Station.

He took on the role of Lifeboat Operations Manager three years after joining, and has responsibility for a volunteer operational crew team of over 40, and one of the RNLI’s busiest stations.

While Capt Hardy has been at the management helm the station has had 1,497 ‘shouts’ and come to the aid of 1,366 people, saving the lives of 194 of them.

Professor Paul Lewis, Emeritus Professor of Midwifery at Bournemouth University, will be made an OBE for services to mothers, midwives and maternity services.

His distinguished career of more than three decades has included roles on the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Midwifery.

He is Honorary President of Dorset Branch of the Royal College of Midwives, and an Honorary Fellow of the body which said of him: “In many ways he has influenced midwifery practice across the Wessex region enhancing the care that women receive. He is a true midwifery leader.”

County fire chief Darran Gunter has been awarded the Queen’s Fire Service Medal.

Mr Gunter has served as chief fire officer for Dorset Fire & Rescue Service for many years, presiding over the recent fire service merger that will come into force in April 2016 and has been selected to head up the new combined Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service.

Wareham’s Tony Bates, president of the Dorset Wildlife Trust, is to be made an MBE for services to wildlife and conservation in Dorset.

The photographer, a former engineer, who came to Dorset in the 1970s, has volunteered for the trust for four decades and was chairman for 10 years before becoming its president in 2009.

He is at the helm of the largest conservation charity in Dorset with over 25,000 members, which is devoted to safeguarding the county’s distinctive wildlife and natural spaces.

Also honoured were Anthony Hugh Mostyn Jefferies, from Bournemouth. The editor of Gibbons Stamp Monthly and Stamp Catalogues will receive an MBE for service to philately.

Anne Everett Deane is to be given an MBE for voluntary service to the British Red Cross for her work as centre organiser at the Sturminster Newton branch.

Poole’s Deborah Clare Potter, chief officer at Dorset Special Constabulary, is to be awarded an MBE for services to policing.

Claire Lois Whitaker, who lives in Poole, is director of Serious, which produces live jazz, international and contemporary music events, and will get an OBE for services to jazz.

And Elizabeth Bull, from Wareham, will receive an OBE, for services to education as head of Slated Row School in Milton Keynes.