A GREEN-fingered volunteer who pioneered new ways to help fix the Lake District fells has been to a special meeting with the Queen, recognising his ‘outstanding’ work.

One of the National Trust’s top path restorers in the Lake District, Paul Delaney, has been munching canapés and chatting with Her Majesty and the Duke of Edin-burgh during an official royal reception at Windsor Castle.

The reception recognised people who have made an outstanding contribution to rural communities with Mr Delaney being selected for his work on the ‘Fix the Fells’ project and efforts educating school children on the importance of taking care of the environment.

“It was a very bizarre experience. It’s amazing how tiny she (the Queen) is. She came up to around my chest.

“There was a lot of faces I saw from the television but I don’t watch it often so I didn’t know all their names.”

Alastair Starling, National Trust general manager for the North Lakes, said: "Paul has with us for 15 years, first as a volunteer then as a paths supervisor.

“Paul has also pioneered the use of fell ponies to transport bags and tools for path repairs to more inaccessible parts of the mountains and has helped to restore hundreds of miles of badly eroded and damaged paths over the last nine years.

"Despite all that, I think he was still taken aback when the invitation to meet the Queen dropped onto his doormat.”

Mr Delaney said: “The invitation arrived the day before my birthday so I thought it was just another card – at first I thought it was a wind-up.

"I’m really honoured to be invited.”

He and the other guests,including people from the Environment Agency and farmers, were served champagne and canapés from the royal kitchens at Windsor.

Mr Delaney said: “It’s great that the footpath work we do is recognised as it’s very important that the fell paths are still there in a good enough condition for people to enjoy in the future.

“It’s only through education and raising awareness of how fragile the landscape is that we can ensure people will still enjoy walking the fells for many years to come.”

He is currently compiling 100 new National Trust walks from every part of the North West, which are being made available for people to download for free from www.nationaltrust.org.uk/walks.