EAST Looe's Stuart Hirst has won a top award as one of the National Health Service's 'Unsung Heroes'.

A national newspaper has been running a campaign to find the top eight from the thousands of dedicated men and women from the NHS, who were nominated to receive one of their awards.

Stuart had been secretly nominated by his solicitor brother Richard from Cambridge. Daily Mail judges Claire Rayner and Lynn Faulds Wood selected him to be the 'Unsung Hero' in the category for Emergency Services.

Stuart, 49, has been a motorbike paramedic in Plymouth since 1999, and the judges were particularly moved by the part he had played in a tragic accident not long ago. He had been the first paramedic on the scene in which a ten year old boy had been knocked down by a bus and trapped by his head. The bus driver was in shock and afraid to move the vehicle, but with Stuart's help and calm command of the situation, they were able to free the casualty. Sadly the boy died a week later, but Stuart's quick arrival at the scene and his actions were the factors that kept him alive for his parents to be with at the hospital.

Stuart is no stranger to being called a hero. To his attractive wife Lorraine, a former Miss Cornwall, he became one the moment they met. A Saltash girl she was attended by Stuart, then an ambulanceman, when she had a serious accident on her motorbike. The couple say it was love at first sight at 11am on June 1, 1984! Their romantic story was featured on the late Larry Grayson's show, 'Sweethearts', on which they appeared in 1986.

Stuart and Lorraine, who have three children - Natalie 22, James 12 and Ben 6 - own Essentials at the Barbican Parade, East Looe, which Lorraine runs. They attended a champagne reception at London's Royal Garden Hotel on Thursday last, where Stuart received his award which comprised a cheque for £5,000.

SIX-year-old Harry Gosling has won a computer for his school. Harry, who is a Year 2 pupil at Torpoint Infants School, is one of two winners in a national competition.

A brand new multi-media PC was due to be presented to the school today at a special assembly. At the same time, Harry will receive £50 in WH Smith vouchers. The youngster won the prizes through a competition run during a "Milk Day" staged at the school by Dairy Crest. He answered questions and had to complete a slogan about why he liked milk.