The Government's chief whip MP Hilary Armstrong returned to Borehamwood last week to officially unveil a street named in memory her uncle, former Labour borough councillor Arthur Armstrong.

The MP for North West Durham, who used to visit her uncle in Borehamwood, unveiled Armstrong Close, a street in the new Laing Homes development, off Manor Way, on Friday.

Mr Armstrong, who died in 1996 at the age of 92, was chairman of Hertsmere Borough Council and the former Elstree Rural District Council, and also served on Shenley Parish Council.

Ms Armstrong, who is also parliamentary secretary to the Treasury, recalled spending a holiday in Borehamwood, as well as visits with her father, the late MP Ernest Armstrong, who also represented North West Durham.

The Armstrong brothers grew up in a small mining village, Stanley near Crook in County Durham, and Arthur moved south in 1928 to work as a psychiatric nurse, while Ernest remained and served as an MP for 23 years.

Ms Armstrong, MP for North West Durham for 14 years, said: "There is a bit of an Armstrong dynasty there."

She described how her uncle helped to shape her life: "Uncle Arthur and my dad used to talk politics all the time.

"I hope my life has been enriched because of the values of the family I grew up in, and Uncle Arthur was very much part of that we all had responsibility for each other.

"The people who are going to live here in Armstrong Close, if they are anything like Uncle Arthur, they are going to live very long and fulfilled lives.

"Today, has been a tremendous honour this has not happened in the family before, and it is quite a strange thing to know there is a road, people are now living in, that has been named after someone we were all very fond of."

Hertsmere's Labour group leader, Councillor Frank Ward, who was responsible for the street-naming and the visit, said: "I knew Arthur for years and felt we should do something to commemorate his public service. He was very prominent in the community and gave so much over the years."

The unveiling was also attended by borough council leader Councillor Neil Payne, the Mayor of Hertsmere William Hogan, the Mayor of Elstree and Borehamwood Martin Heywood, Laing Homes' managing director Sarah Bailey, and Arthur Armstrong's children, Stanley Armstrong, 71, from Worcestershire, and Elizabeth Matthews, 59, from Middlesex, and granddaughter Janine Matthews, 32.