A MOTHER-of-two from Malvern says she feels honoured to have been invested as a member of the Order of St John.

Sarah Coombes, of Burrows Close, who has been a volunteer for St John Ambulance for 32 years, has been admitted as a Serving Sister and presented with the insignia by the prior of the Priory of England and the Islands.

The Queen, as sovereign head of the order, approves each award.

The 38-year-old said: "It's a great achievement. A lot of people go for it so it's an honour to have received it."

Mrs Coombes, who joined St John Ambulance as a cadet at the age of six, now runs a Badger Sett - junior cadets aged five to nine - and the larger cadet division in Malvern.

Of the organisation, she said: "It's like one big family."

She was invested at a ceremony at Grand Priory Church, Clerkenwell, London, last month.

The order was founded in the 11th Century. The British Order of St John is made up of St John Ambulance and Jerusalem's St John Eye Hospital.