A LEADING academic has been given the freedom of a North-East town.

Professor Paul Younger of Newcastle University was conferred with the Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Gateshead this afternoon.

Professor Younger was presented with the greatest civic honour that Gateshead Council can bestow at a private ceremony in Gateshead's Shipley Art Gallery.

He will join other such luminaries as football legend Bob Moncur, Olympic triple jumper Jonathan Edwards, Baroness Joyce Quin, broadcaster and former athlete Brendan Foster and journalist Mike Neville, who have all been made Honorary Freemen in recent years.

Gateshead council leader Councillor Mick Henry said: "Paul Younger has already made an important contribution to the life of Gateshead as an advocate and an ambassador for the borough.

"This honour allows us to demonstrate our appreciation, on behalf of the people of Gateshead, for all his endeavours."

Professor Paul Younger studied at Newcastle University in the early 1980s and has worked at the University since 1992 in various roles, including director of the Sir Joseph Swan Institute for Energy Research.

A distinguished hydrogeologist and environmental engineer, he was leader of the team that won the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher Education for Newcastle University in 2005.

Professor Younger presented Gateshead's inaugural Thomas Hepburn Lecture with the topic "Coal in a Changing Climate: Can it be the Key to a Sustainable Future?". He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Tyne and Wear in 2009.

Only 16 Honorary Freeman of Gateshead have received the 15th Century title since the Borough was formed in 1835.