Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom said yesterday he felt “chuffed” as he received an honorary degree from the University of Kent.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star donned a red gown and mortarboard as he took his place alongside more than 340 graduates for the ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral in his home city.

Proud relatives joined him, including his fiancee Miranda Kerr, his mother Sonia Copeland Bloom, his father Colin Stone and his sister Samantha Bloom.

Ahead of the ceremony, he said: “It’s a really big deal. It’s an exciting day for me. I’m really honoured to be back in my home town. I have so many amazing memories of the cathedral and Canterbury.

“I have lived near the university so it’s like my playground. It’s a huge, huge honour and I feel chuffed, as does my mother – nobody more than my mother.”

Mr Bloom said he missed out on the graduation ceremony after he finished his degree at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama because he was filming Lord of the Rings.

Mr Bloom, who is one of the patrons of the New Marlowe Theatre Development Trust, will don a hard-hat, a high-visibility jacket and steel-capped boots for a tour of the site.