FORMER communities secretary and Bradford Council leader Sir Eric Pickles is being made a peer to sit in the House of Lords.

The former leader of Bradford Council who served as Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar for 25 years and in the cabinet for five years, tweeted that he was "looking forward to returning to Westminster".

Sir Eric is one of nine new Conservatives peers being nominated.

He was knighted in 2015 in recognition of his public service as an MP, a former Cabinet minister and his time in local government.