BOLTON Council workers who have gone above and beyond in the line of duty have been celebrated at a glitzy awards ceremony.

The council's annual staff awards were held at the Bolton Whites Hotel at the Macron Stadium hosted by council chief executive Sean Harriss.

The awards were funded by sponsors Agilisys and Bolton Whites and supported by The Bolton News.

Mr Harriss said: "The Bolton's Best awards has grown and grown. The first one took place in a relatively small room in the town hall.

"There's now a great sense of competition to win and this year we had a record number of nominations and 27 finalists.

"Even to be shortlisted is a great achievement.

"It is hard to justify spending public money on something like this, no matter how important it is, so we're very lucky to have sponsors for the event."

Bolton News readers voted for the Best Customer Care award, won by the Home Support Re-ablement team, which is part of Children’s and Adult Services.

The re-ablement service provides planned, short term, intensive assistance to adults.

The service is designed to maximise people's independence following a period of illness, disability or loss of confidence.

The service is available to adults aged 18 and over, living within their own homes in Bolton.

Workers help with personal hygiene such as bathing, getting in and out of bed, regaining confidence in daily living tasks, medication support, making a drink, preparing a meal or snack.

The team was praised by Mr Harriss for giving service users "the best possible care and support and going above and beyond 365 days a year".

The Improvement and Sustainability award was won by Munisha Savania, a project manager in the Public Health team.

She was praised for developing an innovative preventative service improving the health and wellbeing of older people in Bolton.

The Lifetime Achievement award was won by Tom O'Loughlin, head of service for Children’s and Adult Services.

He has now retired after a long and distinguished social work and management career working for more than 30 years for the council.

Mr O'Loughlin was instrumental in creating the current fostering team in Bolton.

Best Manager was won by Ian Proctor, also from Children’s and Adult Services.

Best Team Member was won by road worker Kenny Eckersley who has worked for Bolton Council for 24 years in highways at the Mayor Street Depot.

The Unsung Hero award went to Ruth Seddon who outside of work is a supporter of the Street Life project which cares for orphan and street children in the Zambian city of Kitwe.

Ruth and her sister make and sell craft items which are sold with all profit going towards the work the charity does.

In addition she has visited the project in Zambia twice, each time using her own annual leave and funding the trip herself.

Best Young Worker was presented to Calum Gaskell, a digital apprentice in the Development and Regeneration department.

Presentations were also made to council workers who have notched up 40 years' service with the local authority.