VISCOUNT De L'Isle, of Penshurst Place, near Tonbridge, has been appointed Vice Lord Lieutenant of Kent.

He succeeds Brigadier Maurice Atherton. He will act as deputy to the Lord Lieutenant, Allan Willett.

Lord De L'Isle, Philip Sidney, born in 1945, was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards in 1966 and saw service in England, Ulster, Germany, Belize and Sudan.

He was appointed an MBE in 1977 and two years later retired from the Army with the rank of major. He succeeded to the title of viscount in 1991 following the death of his father, William.

Lord De L'Isle is a trustee of the Canterbury Cathedral Appeal Trust and from 1992 until 1999 was Honorary Colonel of the 5th (Volunteer) Battalion of the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment.

He is married to Isobel, youngest daughter of Sir Edmund Compton, and the couple have two children, Sophia, born in 1983, and Philip, born in 1985.

Earlier this year the Sidneys celebrated 450 years of Penshurst Place being the ancestral family home.

The Lord Lieutenant of Kent, Allan Willett, said he was "delighted" that Lord De L'Isle had agreed to become Vice Lord Lieutenant.

He said: "He brings to this role his tremendous enthusiasm and commitment, founded on a deep knowledge of the people and places of West Kent."