TWO very different Helensburgh achievers will have a date with royalty later this year after being named in the New Year honours list.

Gordon Reid, the world's number one wheelchair tennis player, and local business owner Melanie Andrews were both made MBEs in the end-of-year award accolades.

Gordon's honour will surprise no-one who has kept track of his remarkable achievements throughout 2016, in which four Grand Slam victories and two medals in the Rio Paralympics saw him climb to the top of the men's world rankings as the year drew to a close.

Melanie, meanwhile, was given an MBE for her services to her home town – which she has worked tirelessly to improve for many years – and for her efforts to promote the art of top-quality baking through the Scottish Baking Awards.

And while Melanie's achievements may be rather closer to home than Gordon's, the two were equally delighted to be recognised for their hard work.

Gordon, 25, said: "It's a great honour for me. It's been a fantastic year for me - the best year of my career - so to finish it off like this is like the icing on the cake.

"There's a lot of things that I didn't expect would happen this year, and I think receiving my MBE is on that list as well, but it's been amazing and I've loved every minute."

Having developed the rare neurological condition transverse myelitis, which affects the spinal cord, at the age of 12, Gordon now hopes his MBE will help boost the public profile of wheelchair tennis.

"There's a lot of things which have happened in my career this year which have helped the profile of wheelchair tennis," he added, "and that's really exciting for me that I can get our sport out in the public eye a little bit more, so hopefully me being included on the list will help that further."

Melanie, meanwhile, said she had been more than a little taken aback when the letter arrived telling her she had been nominated for an honour.

“It's been very difficult to keep the award a secret,” she said. “I couldn't even tell my family.

“My first thought was 'who on earth nominated me?', and my second was 'what have I done?'.

“And then I thought about it, and I suppose, when you put it all together, I've done my bit.”

Melanie, 52, owns and runs the Craigard Tearoom in Sinclair Street.

Her community work over the years has included the creation of a tourism booklet and visitor map for Helensburgh – the second of which she personally funded.

She was also one of the founding directors of the 'Helensburgh Heroes' initiative, for which she helped organise the recording of a community cover version of the David Bowie song 'Heroes' back in 2009.

And along with Iain and Sephton MacQuire, she was one of the main movers behind the resurrection of the Helensburgh and Lomond Highland Games in 2008, after a gap of 51 years.

“Helensburgh is my home town,” she said.

“I'm passionate about it, and when I'm passionate about something I throw myself into it and I'll get anything done.”

A self-taught baker, Melanie started in business at the age of just 21, and in 2009 she launched and personally funded the Scottish Baking Awards, which she continues to regulate and monitor.

In November we reported on her plans to expand her baking horizons by setting up the first ever Spanish Baking Awards scheme.