A DARLINGTON apprentice beat off competition from all over the country to win a national award.

Jake Caldwell, 22, works for Stone Technical Services (STS) in the town and was named "Best Lightning Conductor Engineer" at the national Steeplejack and Lightning Protection Training Group (SLPTG) Apprentice Awards.

He joined STS in 2012 and is currently working on projects including the Byker Wall redevelopment in Newcastle and for Mechtool Engineering of Darlington. He said: "I was really shocked to get the award as everyone has worked so hard to get this far. It’s a pretty competitive industry and we all strive to be the best. I’m learning such a lot from the team at STS as there are a lot of experienced engineers to work alongside and we get to work on some really magnificent projects and great structures.”

Last year Robbi Dickinson, 24, also from STS won the award for ‘Best Technical Application’ at the same awards.

Dave Stone, STS managing director, said: "We invest a lot of time in training our team to the highest levels and this continues throughout their career with us. Apprentices are vital to keep the sector thriving and we are incredibly proud to have such an exemplary member of our team as Jake.

"He thoroughly deserves this award as he always works hard and is committed to his job. It’s a real coup for us to get this award for the second year running and it is testament to the hard work that the whole team puts in to training our staff.”

STS is one of the UK’s leading high level maintenance and lightning protection companies, working on buildings such as the Royal Courts of Justice, St Paul’s Cathedral and Lumley Castle, as well as organisations including English Heritage, INEOS, BSkyB, Sir Robert McAlpine and local authorities throughout the UK.