A VETERAN of Lake District mountain search and rescue who was given an MBE earlier this year has died, aged 79.

Malcolm Grindrod, of Coniston, was presented with his medal by HRH Prince William at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Mr Grindrod was the vice-president Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dogs.

He had been involved with the organisation since its formation in 1972.

A spokesman for the group said: “He played a leading role in developing the work of search dogs in the UK, and many handlers will owe their skills to training methods that he developed.

“A long-standing member of Langdale Ambleside and Coniston Teams, he played a leading role in organising the tasks for search dogs at the Lockerbie Incident in 1988.

“He was a pioneer of forging links with overseas training organisations in Norway, Iceland, Bavaria and the USA.

“Among the UK search dog fraternity, there will be few who did as much to develop and support the handlers he trained.

“Above all, he was a committed and skilled mountain rescue team member right to the end. He will be greatly missed as a husband, father and friend but also as both as a source of information and inspiration.”

The Duke of Cambridge bestowed the honour to Mr Grindrod, and spoke to him about his service, which included helping search for potential survivors of the Lockerbie bombing in 1988.

“He must have been briefed about me because he knew a lot about what I’d done,” Mr Grindrod told The Mail’s sister paper The Westmorland Gazette when he picked up the honour.

The decorated rescuer joined the mountain rescue volunteers in Coniston in 1963, and then served with the Langdale and Ambleside MRT between 1970 and 1977, before returning to his village team.

Mr Grindrod was at the forefront of developing the Search and Rescue Dogs Association.

“It’s been 55 years since I started doing mountain rescue and it’s the camaraderie that keeps me in it,” he told The Gazette earlier this year.

“You make very good friends through mountain rescue and also through working with search dogs.”

For the ceremony in London, he was joined by his wife Vera and daughters Joy and Kathryn.

“It is a massive honour to receive the medal,” he said.

“It was nice for my wife and daughters to be for what was a nice occasion as well.”

While his prestigious medal has gained a lot of attention from his friends and family, Mr Grindrod said he was yet to find the perfect place to show it in his home.

“It’s just at the side of the television,” he said.

“It’s in a nice little box but there’s been a lot of people asking about it.”