FORMER Dudley teacher Dave Russon has been stripped of his MBE following allegations of inappropriate behaviour while teaching.

Mr Russon, who taught science at Ridgewood High School in Stourbridge and before that Longlands, was awarded the honour for services to education back in June 2001.

But the prestigious accolade, presented to him by The Queen, has been taken away by the Cabinet Office's Honours Forfeiture Committee.

A Cabinet Office source said the honour was annulled following “allegations of inappropriate behaviour while at Ridgewood High School”.

The news, announced in the London Gazette on February 26, follows a Teaching Agency professional conduct panel decision made in June last year banning Mr Russon, who is in his 60s, from teaching in schools, sixth form colleges, youth accommodation or children’s homes.

The Cabinet Office source added: “The Forfeiture Committee is committed to upholding the integrity of the UK Honours system.”

Mr Russon, of Junction Street, Dudley, taught science at the old Longlands Secondary Modern School in Brook Street and he moved to Ridgewood High School in Park Road West, Wollaston, when the schools merged in 1990.

He also taught hundreds of Dudley youngsters to swim over the years and used to run annual pony trekking trips to The Gower, Wales, during school holidays.