HIGHWAY engineer David Groom – who played a key role in the construction of the Witchford bypass – will take the road to Buckingham Palace to collect his MBE. The Cambridgeshire County Council divisional maintenance engineer will swap his hard hat and ref

HIGHWAY engineer David Groom - who played a key role in the construction of the Witchford bypass - will take the road to Buckingham Palace to collect his MBE.

The Cambridgeshire County Council divisional maintenance engineer will swap his hard hat and reflective jacket for top hat and tails after being named in the Queen's 80th Birthday Honours.

David, a father of two, and husband to Doris, joined the county council as an assistant division surveyor for the Newmarket area in 1970.

He was the construction manager for the Witchford bypass and is now in charge of keeping the 660 miles of roads maintained and traffic moving in East Cambridgeshire.

Just some of the challenges faced by David are repairing and resurfacing roads, building and maintaining footways and making sure the gritters are out at 2am on Christmas morning.

David, who lives at Exning in Newmarket, has been honoured as part of the Queen's birthday celebrations for his services to local government.

He said: "It was a complete surprise to get the letter - I still don't know who put me forward.

"This honour really is a reflection of the hardwork and support of the many people around me, it really is a team effort.

"I have been at the council for 36 years which shows how much I have and continue to enjoy my work. I enjoy helping the local communities and you get a sense of satisfaction when a project goes well. I was particularly proud of being the construction manager for the much-needed and now much-used Witchford by-pass.