KENT-BASED pollster Bob Worcester has received an honorary degree.

The founder and chairman of Mori (Market and Opinion Research International) was awarded an honorary doctorate of law by the University of Greenwich.

Prof Worcester, who lives near Maidstone, joined 120 graduating students, including actor Michael Gambon, for the ceremony in the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul at the Old Royal Naval College.

Honorary degrees are awarded to individuals of distinction who have made a major contribution to the work of the university, or who have earned

prominence for activities associated more widely with education,

business, culture, creative work or public service. Prof Worcester, who was born in the United States, is a Kent Ambassador and has lived in the county for nearly 30 years.

He is a trustee of the Kent Foundation, an organisation that backs The Prince's Trust in the county, a non-executive director of Medway Maritime Hospital NHS Trust and a member of the council of the University of Kent. He has advised Prime Ministers and appears regularly on television and radio.