South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue has scooped two gongs at the Cutlers’ Company Police and Fire Service annual awards.

Station Manager Chris Mee took home the individual prize for his achievements in providing realistic fire training to firefighters.

The training, developed in partnership with Barnsley Council and Berneslai Homes, involved the lighting of real fires within soon to be demolished residential properties, providing firefighters with realistic training scenarios.

Due to its success, the project has been widely discussed up and down the UK as a potential opportunity for other fire and rescue services to explore. Thus far, over 150 South Yorkshire operational staff members have gained valuable realistic experience from these exercises.

The service’s Business Fire Safety team were recognised for their local work in response to the Grenfell Tower disaster. Alongside carrying out usual business fire safety activities, the team coordinated and undertook fire safety audits at 43 Local Authority High Rise residential buildings and 44 at privately owned high rise buildings within South Yorkshire, met with hundreds of residents and delivered specialist training to firefighters.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Alex Johnson said: “We strive to be the best at everything we do, so these award wins are a fantastic achievement for the fire service and provide well deserved recognition for the hard and varied work our staff do on a daily basis to keep the public of South Yorkshire safe.”

The awards, which took place in the Cutlers’ Hall, Sheffield, were presented by the Master Cutler, Ken Cooke.