PRESTIGIOUS awards have been scooped by industrious Copeland Council workers.

The parks team was shortlisted by the Association of Public Service Excellence for Parks Service Team of the Year - in recognition of "improvements in the delivery of parks services through commercialisation and partnership working."

While the building control team has retained its Chartered Building Consultancy status, which means it operates to extremely high standards with a fully qualified workforce.

The parks team has in recent years focussed on becoming more commercially efficient - working in partnership with other bodies to deliver services and bidding for external contracts.

All teams underwent a rigorous assessment process to reach the finals and the winner will be announced in early September.

Copeland's parks manager, John Davis, said: "Just getting onto the shortlist is an enormous accolade as we were up against councils from across the UK. I am immensely proud of the whole team and their commitment to the work we do in Copeland."

Copeland has held the Chartered Building Consultancy status since 2007, but the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) asked holders to re-apply to comply with new, more stringent rules.

Building control manager Mark Key said: "I am extremely pleased that my team can continue to offer this standard of service to the public.

"Chartered Building Consultancy status is something only a handful of building control services in the UK have, and it shows the public they can be sure of receiving the most professional guidance from start to finish.”

Organisations chartered with CIOB are independently assessed and regularly audited. They must show they are competently and professionally run, operate to high business and ethical standards and are committed to developing a fully qualified workforce.

Copeland's portfolio holder for economic growth, Lena Hogg, said: "This is a great example of the extremely high quality of service our staff can offer, which can sometimes be overlooked.

"The building control service we offer is second to none and we are very lucky to have such a well-qualified team."