FORMER Worth Valley councillor Sir Eric Pickles has been appointed a non-executive director of waste management firm the Leo Group.
Keighley-born Sir Eric will receive £40,000 a year for the role, which he has declared in the register of MPs' interests.
He started out in local politics in Bradford in 1979, becoming council leader nine years later, and was first elected to Parliament in 1992.
The Brentwood and Ongar MP served as Communities Secretary for the duration of the last Parliament and had previously been Tory party chairman.
The Leo Group includes the Omega Proteins rendering plant at Denholme, whose animal bi-products are used to create meal and oils for use in biofuels and power generation and to fuel cement works.
The group's Envirowaste Services subsidiary collects and recycles waste across West Yorkshire.
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