Coming of age celebrations for Vitaline

Staff at Blackpool's Vitaline are celebrating as their department has officially come of age after serving the people of Blackpool for exactly 18 years.

And long-standing member of staff, Dave Weston, who was on duty back in 1991, was on hand to cut the cake.

He said: "The service we provide has changed enormously over the last 18 years but I still love it. I think of it as the best job in the world because we provide real community benefits to Blackpol residents. The services we provide are so diverse that no two shifts are never the same - we don't know the meaning of the word bored at Vitaline."

Manager, Margaret Seddon, said: "I am pleased that the work of Vitaline has been recognised with national accreditation and it is a tribute to the hard working and dedicated staff who provide an extremely important service 24 hours a day.

"However, for the thousands of people we serve in Blackpool, the most important aspect is the reassurance Vitaline provides so they can carry on living their life safe in the knowledge that if something goes wrong, we are there to help."