A LOYAL man who worked tirelessly for 20 years to restore Fairford church's historic stained glass windows has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2015.

Keith Barley of Barley Studio in York spent 20 years travelling back and forth from Fairford to conserve, restore and preserve the windows of St Mary's Church - the only complete set of late medieval glass in a parish church in the country.

The project was finished in 2010 and Keith said while he felt overjoyed at the final result, he also felt sad he had to leave the town he had come to really know and love.

"Fairford was the pilgrimage for anyone involved in stain glass," said Keith, 64. "All its 28 windows are from the same period, it's unique.

"It was a very exciting project. At the time it was finished it was a fantastic celebration but I felt a little bit of sadness too because of all the friends I had made while visiting. There were so many of them. It was like a second home."

The annual Queen's Birthday Honours list was released on Saturday and Keith said it was amazing to be recognised for his work and receive an MBE. He was nominated by the Friends of Fairford Church. Chairman of the friends Geoff Hawkes said all the members were so pleased to hear Keith would be made part of the list.

"The people here feel they have seen him grow in his career and skills over the years and we feel a partial ownership in what he has achieved," he said.

On hearing the news of his MBE Keith said: "I was absolutely delighted. This was one of my longest projects and was a major part of my life."

Keith added he was particularly pleased to see he had been rewarded for both restoration and conservation, as this recognises his desire to treat stained glass windows as a work of art rather than just an object of antiquity.

St Mary's Church is open to the public from 10am-5pm in the summer and visitors are welcome to view the colourful and historic stained glass windows.