A 39-year-old Army Major from Burton has been awarded an MBE for his work helping eradicate the threat of mosquitoes and other pests in Cyprus.

Glen Bullivant, who left school at 16 to join the armed forces as a private, has risen to the ranks to Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He has now been acknowledged for his work in environmental health research across British territories, known as sovereign bases, in Cyprus.

The father-of-three has become one of 109 service personnel named in the annual New Year Honours list.

Major Bullivant spent three years with his family at a posting in Cyprus with a team of 55 people looking at environmental health and pest management control due to the problems with mosquitoes and other pests on the island.

The team also managed to secure a £275,000 research grant to look at invasive species already in and arriving on the island. It looks at the best ways in which to deal with the threat they cause to biodiversity, the eco-system and human health.

His work has seen the numbers of the pests reduce significantly over the past few years, and has been backed by Public Health England.

He said: "The general called me in before Christmas leave to tell me (of the honour). I was quite shocked because it is not something you normally think you are in the bracket for.

Glen Bullivant will be awarded an MBE

"The general is well aware of what we are doing. I am really surprised and equally I am over the moon because someone takes the time to look at what you have done."

He settled in Burton with his family following the three-year posting in Cyprus which ended last summer when he was promoted to Major.

Born in Germany to a serving soldier, he left school at 16 and joined the army as a private.

He said: "I became a medic for a year doing an operational tour of Bosnia in 1995, and have been in the environmental health sector for about 20 years."

Aside from his latest honour, his favourite moment of his career was being awarded a first class degree in environmental health paid for by the army.

He said: "I left school at 16 and didn’t do A-levels so to get a first-class degree is great."

He now works at NATO in Gloucester as part of the Allied Rapid Reaction Call, on standby duties and deployed as a deterrent across the 23 NATO countries.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: "Our Armed Forces are the best in the world, and the men and women receiving honours have gone above and beyond the call of duty in order to keep this country safe. Their diligence and dedication in the line of service has been unwavering and ensured that Britain remains ready as we face intensifying threats at home and abroad."