Congratulations are in order today for Mary Dhonau, the Worcester floods campaigner honoured by the Queen at Buckingham Palace yesterday.

Ms Dhonau, the chief executive of the National Flood Forum, received the OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours in June.

It is a fitting reward for someone who has worked tirelessly to help flood victims and to protect the worst-hit areas from future deluges.

Her work began after serious flooding in Bewdley at the turn of the century and she now heads a much-respected national organisation.

We have little doubt that flood protection schemes now in place in Bewdley and Worcester and soon to be built in Upton-upon-Severn are only there because of the exceptional lobbying and campaigning carried out by Mary Dhonau and her team.

Like all effective campaigners, Ms Dhonau’s work has been inspired by her own experiences.

Her home in Worcester has been flooded a number of times, most recently in the summer of 2007.

She understands the trauma flood victims experience and she has made it her mission to help those in need, inform those who could experience flooding, and put pressure on those with the power to take action where floods are preventable.

There are many people across not only Worcestershire but also the whole country who should give thanks for Mary Dhonau’s work.

Now she has received national recognition for that work. And it is well deserved.