A RETIRING Worcestershire MP has paid his own tribute to the voters - saying he was "so grateful" to serve them for so long.

Sir Peter Luff has poured his heart out over the county's people, saying they shared their "hopes and fears" with him for 23 years.

This week was Sir Peter's final one in the House of Commons, with parliament due to be dissolved this Monday to allow politicians to campaign before the General Election.

The 60-year-old former defence minister spent the week saying his goodbyes to fellow parliamentarians, including watching his final Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday inside the chamber.

He also said he felt "the time was right to move on" after such a long time in the Commons.

Sir Peter said: "I want to thank all those who voted for me, supported me, challenged me, brought their problems to me and shared their hopes and fears with me over the last 23 years.

"I am so grateful that I have been able to represent this county as an MP for so long.

"There are many things that I will miss about being an MP, but the time is right for me to move on.

"I wish whoever is elected the Member of Parliament the best of luck for the future - it really is an honour to serve this county."

We reported yesterday how his final question in the Commons was to skills minister Nick Boles on encouraging more people into engineering.

Sir Peter was first elected in 1992 for the Worcester seat, and after a boundary review switched to Mid-Worcestershire in 1997, where he has remained ever since.

As your Worcester News revealed two weeks ago, Sir Peter has just landed a £43,000 a year job in charge of the board which oversees the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The fund has been handed £1.5 billion from the Government over the last five years and the retiring MP will be tasked with managing the allocations of future grant handouts.

He will take up the role, which will take up around two to three days each week, after May's General Election.