FIREFIGHTERS from Fenland scooped some major awards at a special ceremony and celebrated long service and staff achievements.

There were long service and good conduct medals, excellence awards and certificates of commendation for the Fenland crew members who were accompanied by their families at the Marriott Hotel in Huntingdon.

They were congratulated on their commitment, dedication and professionalism by Chief Fire Officer Graham Stagg.

Long Service and Good Conduct Medals went to Roger Byatt, a fire fighter based at March, and Tony Raine, watch manager at March.

The medals, for those completing 20 years of long and meritorious service to the fire service and the public, were presented by the High Sheriff for Cambridgeshire, Dr Nigel Brown.

The Operational Excellence Award went to Wisbech retained and day crews for their response to a challenging road traffic collision near Wisbech in April 2009 when they were involved in two complex rescues. From the beginning and right through the lengthy incident, crews were said to have demonstrated excellent decision making and worked hard in uncomfortable situations to achieve a successful outcome.

Fire protection manager for Fenland and Peterborough, Steve Robinson, won the Excellence in Community Safety Award for his work in reducing prison fires across the county.

Mr Robinson used prison intelligence and best practice from other fire services to put new procedures in place at Whitemoor, Littlehey and Peterborough prisons. This has led to an 80 per cent reduction in cell fires. Mr Robinson was also commended for his commitment to community safety in Wisbech over recent weeks.

The excellence awards reflect a variety of different achievements made within and outside the service. Winners of the awards were nominated by others in the Service.

Beth Moore, a graphic design student from Wisbech and daughter of Wisbech fire fighter Adrian Moore, was presented with a Certificate of Commendation. Beth has used her design skills to help the Service in a number of profile raising projects.

She has also been involved in the Cambs Times/Wisbech Standard Kids are Alright project, a multi-agency campaign aimed at busting youth stereotypes. One of the aims of the project was to involve youngsters in designing a poster or logo for the campaign.

Beth took up the challenge and came up with a collection of inspiring designs which are now being used in other campaigns across the UK.

Also receiving Certificates of Commendation were Cliff Austine, medical technician from the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust for assisting the Service with community safety work, and PC Mark Hills from Cambridgeshire Constabulary for assisting the Service in identifying and trialling a new door entry system.

Hosts for the evening were chief Fire Officer Graham Stagg and BBC Look East presenter Janine Machin.

Mr Stagg said: “Tonight is all about recognising and celebrating the commitment, dedication and professionalism of those who go above and beyond to improve the level of service that we provide to the community. Without them, this Service would not be the organisation that it is today.

“The quality of achievements is highly impressive and every single winner and nominee should be extremely proud.”