AUTHOR and founder of the Cumbria Book of the Year Awards Hunter Davies has been honoured with an OBE for his services to literature.

The 78-year-old, who grew up in Carlisle and owns a house in Loweswater, described himself as ‘a hack that got lucky’.

A writer and journalist, he has written more than 70 books covering everything from novels, children’s fiction, biographies and travel literature.

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The Scottish-born writer penned the only authorised biography of the Beatles in 1968, a biography of fell walker Alfred Wainwright plus other books on the landscape and history of the Lake District.

He has also dedicated time to writing about sport with a book about football called The Glory Game, plus work as a ghostwriter on autobiographies of the likes of Wayne Rooney and Paul Gascoigne.