THE former leader of Kent County Council Leader, Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, is to take the title Lord Bruce-Lockhart of The Weald.

Sir Sandy, who was created a peer in April, has had the title conferred upon him by the Lord Chancellor and it is the name he will be known when he officially enters the House of Lords.

Lord Bruce-Lockhart first entered public life through chairing the Weald of Kent Preservation Society committee fighting the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in the 1980s.

Lord Bruce-Lockhart said: "It is a great honour and nice to be associated with a part of Kent where I live and where the countryside and traditional villages are so wonderfully and uniquely Kentish.

"I will be fighting Kent’s corner in the Lords. Of course, to all my friends, colleagues and people in Kent I hope I remain just Sandy."

Lord Bruce-Lockhart, who is chairman of the Local Government Association, stood down as leader of KCC last October after eight years in the job.

He is due to take his seat in the Lords at a ceremony next month.