HEROES from last year’s flooding have been rewarded at a special ceremony.

The Flood Hero Awards were held at the Guildhall in York last week, to acknowledge the individuals and groups who served their communities in the floods in September and November last year.

The awards were organised by BBC Radio York, hosted by Adam Tomlinson, and nominated by the public.

Coun Di Keal, mayor of Norton, nominated the Salvation Army and Next Steps Café in the Ryedale Flood Hero category, and was delighted to see them awarded gold.

She said: “It was an amazing community effort and I’m really proud of what they did.

“They are absolutely amazing, the effort they put in running a 24-hour café for the emergency services and volunteers over nine days.”

Among the other winners were PCSO Chris Upton, who won in the Emergency Services Flood Hero and Individual Flood Hero categories. He was on patrol on his bicycle when the call came in for assistance in Naburn.

He said: “I ended up cycling through several feet of water, absolutely soaking wet. It was more just having someone in authority there for the residents’ reassurance and commanding where the sandbags needed to be.”

Major Tony Barry, Sergeant James Mason, and Queen’s Ghurka Signaller Rajen Bura, of 2 Signal Regiment, accepted the award for Team Flood Hero, after their work in Cawood and York.

Francine Clee, deputy editor of the Gazette & Herald’s sister paper, The Press, was one of the judges, and said: “There were so many groups and individuals going the extra mile in extreme circumstances that the awards were very difficult to judge.

“Every nominee showed exceptional community spirit, and determination, and I would like to congratulate them all.”