FEW people can claim to have done as much to help shape the city of Oxford as Debbie Dance.

As director of the Oxford Preservation Trust for 14 years, she has been at the forefront of the battle to protect some of the city’s oldest features.

But Mrs Dance, who has become an OBE, has also helped create some of the city’s newest attractions.

In fact, the 55-year-old lists the revamped Oxford Castle among her proudest achievements.

She said: “It is fantastic to have been honoured like this and there are lots of people in my time as director of the trust I would like to thank.

“We opened Oxford Castle to the public for the first time in its 1,000-history and I am incredibly proud of it.

“It was a partnership with Oxfordshire County Council and I inherited it when I took over but it took eight years to get it open – more than half my time as director.”

Oxford Castle is perhaps most noted for its role as the city’s prison until 1996.

After closing, the Grade I-listed building was redeveloped to include a hotel, restaurants and a tourist attraction, opening in 2006.

Mrs Dance, who grew up in Wallingford and is a chartered surveyor by training, said: “What has been good has been getting Oxford’s town heritage recognised as well as its university heritage.

“Oxford is a fantastic place in all sorts of ways, whether it’s the motor industry or its university.

“There are lots of pressures to develop in Oxford and we want it to be a vibrant place, but it requires a great deal of thought and working together.

“What Oxford Preservation Trust does best is bringing people together to celebrate what we have got.”