AN EXPERT on bubbles has been made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the New Year's Honours List.

Retired lecturer Dr Cyril Isenberg, of Abbots Place, made froth and foam fun with his work on soap bubbles and their use in solving maths problems, and set up the National Physics Olympiad 25 years ago.

He joined Kent University from the Atomic Energy Lab in Chicago, USA, in 1967.

He said: “This award is very special and ranks high on my list of achievements.

“I had some idea I might be nominated because I was asked to forward my CV to someone quite important but it is still quite a surprise.”

Former chairman of Kent and Canterbury Hospital’s League of Friends Jean Byers also receives an MBE, as does co-founder of the Dover Counselling Centre Bill Moses, from Norton near Faversham.

Mrs Byers, of Rough Common Road, served as chairwoman of the League of Friends for nine years, during which time it raised close to £2million.

The said: “I am gobsmacked. I shrieked when I read the letter from the Prime Minister.

“This is very much for the League of Friends and I am delighted for them.

“It shows we are appreciated and also that, in retirement, people can transfer their skills to help others less fortunate than themselves.”

Former Sealink boss and Hoverspeed chief executive Mr Moses co-founded the Dover Counselling Centre to help victims of the Herald of Free Enterprise Disaster in 1987.

He said: “It makes me feel really good. And to be honest, it humbles me in a way that it’s nice to know that efforts are rewarded in this way.

“There are an awful amount of people who never get recognition at all.

“I feel very fortunate that somebody must have thought about me to single me out like this.”

Other residents of the Canterbury area featured on the New Year's Honours List are Canterbury High School’s former head Keith Hargrave and Kent County Council’s children’s services director Graham Badman, who is in charge of the county’s 600-plus schools. Both have been made Commanders of the British Empire for services to education and local government respectively.