AN Oxford University professor who was born in Kidderminster has become one of a handful of western academics to be given an honorary degree by Bulgaria's top university.

Richard Crampton, 60, travelled to Bulgaria's capital, Sofia, to receive the honour.

He is Professor of East European History at the University of Oxford and an author of several books on Bulgarian history.

As a child, he attended the New Meeting Primary School, which was in Church Street, Kidderminster, before moving on to Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, which was formerly in Hartlebury.

It was his schooldays at Queen Elizabeth's between 1952-56 that stimulated his interest in eastern Europe. "At Hartlebury, I always used to be reading whatever I could about eastern European history," he said.

Professor Crampton left Hartlebury when his family moved to Solihull, although his mother, Norah, now lives in Kidderminster, at Land Oak.

He is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in the University of London.

He taught at the University of Kent in Canterbury for more than 20 years.

Professor Crampton's wife, Celia, accompanied him to Sofia when he collected the degree.

He said of the degree award: "I was very flattered because there are very few British scholars who have got that distinction."