TWO men who have gone above and beyond for their local communities in Wiltshire have received the British Empire Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Richard Adrian Giles from Pewsey and Richard Derek Tilney from Malmesbury have been named on the prestigious honours list this evening (Friday) due to the exemplary service they provide to their local community through committees, campaigns and education.

Mr Giles was awarded his British Empire Medal for his continued service to Pewsey where he currently serves as the founder and president of the Zixex Club. The 72-year-old is also a former chairman of the Pewsey Carnival Committee and to this day continues to take informal positions to ensure the carnival is a roaring success.

Under his tenure with the committee, which stretches back to 1963, the Carnival received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2007. Mr Giles also served on the Pewsey Parish Council for many years where he helped maintain and improve the area as well as taking the lead on the Plant a Tree campaign in 1973, overseeing some 600 trees planted in the parish. The Pewsey man was also honoured for his time as a Magistrate and he later became Chairman of the Bench.

Mr Tilney was also named in Queen's Birthday Honours for his selfless work in Malmesbury, where he has been involved in all aspects of community life for more than fifty years.

The 84-year-old has been involved with the Malmesbury Gardening Club since 1960 and organised two garden shows and countless annual plant sales over the years. He chairs monthly meetings, organises annual dinners and has even made bespoke racks for the market to help maximise their space.

Mr Tilney also works as a trustee with the Malmesbury River Valleys Trust and worked alongside the Land Management Team to help transform the town's former rubbish tip into a local nature reserve, which in 2013 was declared as a County Wildlife Site.

The Malmesbury man has also served as the chair of the local Royal British Legion Branch for the last 15 years and has spent much of that time working with the next generation to educate them about the importance of the organisation and the work that they do for the Armed Forces.