THE people of Worlingham and the local fire service have been honoured at a glittering ceremony for their outstanding response to a horrific accident last year.

THE people of Worlingham and the local fire service have been honoured at a glittering ceremony for their outstanding response to a horrific accident last year.

The Stars of Suffolk awards, celebrated the inspirational people who live within our communities.

At the ceremony on Tuesday night a special award went to the people of Worlingham in recognition of how they rallied round following a car crash last September, which saw a motorist mount a kerb and hit a group of children from the middle school who were on a supervised walk around the village.

And Beccles and Lowestoft retained firefighters were all named Fire Service Person of the Year for their help during the accident.

Hundreds of guests gathered for the second annual awards, which were held at Suffolk County Council's Endeavour House.

The Special Recognition award for Worlingham was collected by Michael Culyer, chairman of Worlingham Parish Council, and Suzie Ellis, rector at Worlingham Church.

Mr Culyer said he did not feel worthy to pick up the award. 'It was a great honour to represent the community of Worlingham at the awards,' he said. 'It was a wonderful night and very humbling.'

The firefighters from Beccles and Lowestoft were all awarded a trip to watch Ipswich Town from the executive box at Portman Road.

Gary Phillips, interim deputy chief fire officer at Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, said: 'I'm very proud of the work done by the crew at Beccles in dealing with this incident and it is typical of the way all our firefighters respond to circumstances like this.

'The community should also be commended for coming together at this difficult time.'

There were a total of 16 awards given out on the night, organised by our sister paper The Evening Star and Suffolk County Council, which included two awards for outstanding bravery, Carer of the Year, School Team of the Year, Social Worker of the Year, and Unsung Hero/Heroine of the Year.

Another special award recognised the troops stationed at Wattisham.