A member of the Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team (NNPMRT) has received two prestigious awards.

Pete Roberts has been awarded with both the National Police Search Governance Board Award 2023 for Lifetime Achievement and the Mountain Rescue England and Wales Distinguished Service Award.

The awards celebrate individuals who have made significant contributions to the UK search community.

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The recipients of this honour have generally enhanced public safety or assisted with the improvement of the UK's search capabilities.

Further enhancing the prestige of this recognition, the criteria specified that the awarded individual should have had at least 15 years of sustained accomplishment within the UK search community.

Mr Roberts has dedicated over 50 years to the team, serving twice as its chairman and team leader.

He has played a crucial role in a series of high-visibility searches, including the retrieval of evidence in the wake of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988.

Mr Roberts has also spent over 40 years assisting Northumbria Police with searches for high-risk, vulnerable or distressed missing people.

His drive to help find missing people led him to develop and update search management practices, co-authoring a number of research papers in this field in the 1980s.

Furthermore, in 1997 he established the Centre for Search Research, which was designed to explore topics and techniques relating to searching and search management.

His invaluable contribution to the field has had an impact on search methods not only in Northumbria but also across the UK, Ireland and North America.

Mr Roberts said: "I feel very honoured to receive these awards that acknowledge my achievements over 50 years of being involved in Mountain Rescue both locally and nationally.

"Mountain Rescue has given me a lot - good friends around the world where I have had the opportunity to travel.

"These awards are also a tribute to the countless hours freely given by volunteers to help others and a big thank you to all the long suffering families, wives, husbands and partners who support them in their endeavours."