TWO county businessmen have made it to the top 50 of a Midlands rich list for the first time, with a rock star and the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire also making the grade.

For rugby fans, Cecil Duckworth is best known for his support of the Worcester Warriors.

By not only owning all the shares of the company which runs the club, but also subsidising it to the tune of £2m a year, he helped the team to finally achieve a place in this year's Zurich Premiership.

This has helped him to amass an estimated fortune of £25m compared to £15m last year, placing him at number 44 on the list, which has been compiled by UBS Wealth Management and The Birmingham Post.

But his work was probably best summed up when he was given an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours last June.

The award was made "for services to the community, especially the environment and sport, in Worcestershire".

The 66-year-old father-of-two is renowned for ploughing money and time into helping the people of the county, including setting up the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust in 1998.

The Birmingham Post's estimate for Mr Duckworth contradicts the Sunday Times Rich List of 2003, which then estimated Mr Duckworth's fortune as £30m.

This morning, Mr Duckworth refused to clarify the correct figure saying: "I don't get involved in rich list estimates".

Also stepping up a gear was Charles Morgan and family, the owners of the famous Morgan Motor Company, with an estimated fortune of £15m.

They came in at number 50 on the list.

The Morgan Motor Company Ltd made a gentle return to profit in the year ending December 31, 2003, recording a profit of £53,500 against the previous year's losses of £474,450.

Sales for 2004 look likely to be another record.

The company reported that 569 cars left the Malvern plant last year, with some 60 per cent bound for export.

Rock legend Robert Plant, former lead singer of Led Zeppelin, comes in at number 29 on the list.

The group's 1971 hit, Stairway to Heaven, has been voted the best rock song of all time and has helped him amass a fortune of £60m.

His name is now firmly fixed in the Rock Hall of Fame, but the owner of one of the world's most recognisable voices remains a Kidderminster boy at heart.

The Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, Michael Brinton, who is also non-executive chairman of Kidderminster carpet giant Brintons, joins Robert Plant at number 29 on the list.

Brintons won the contract for the £550m Queen Mary 2 and for the world's largest-ever order for woven carpet for the new Hong Kong airport at Chek Lap Kok.