KENT County Council’s former chief executive Mike Pitt has been knighted for services to local government in the Queen’s Birthday honours.

Mr Pitt, 56, spent seven years at the helm of KCC, presiding over a period which is regarded as one of most successful in the authority’s history.

He left earlier this year and is currently the interim chief executive of Swindon Borough Council. Before joining KCC in 1997, Mr Pitt was chief executive of Cheshire County Council. He has also served as president of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives.

KCC leader Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said: "All of us at the county council are absolutely delighted at Mike’s knighthood. It is immensely well deserved for a lifetime’s outstanding service to local government and in particular to Kent."