THREE young friends from Cinderford have been praised for their community spirit when snow hit the area.

Owen Morgan, Coby Jackson and Alex Molnar started by clearing a path for an elderly neighbour in Cinderford – and then carried on to help many others.

The friends were presented with Outstanding Citizenship Awards by deputy leader of the Forest Council, Cllr Paul Hiett, for helping a large number of people and helping to keep the community moving.

Cllr Hiett said: “The work done by these young people in the area was fantastic to hear about, and shows that the community spirit that we value so much in the Forest of Dean is alive and well in towns and villages across the district.

“I hope that the special award that we have provided shows just how appreciative we are of the community spirit shown during the winter months and hope that this can inspire residents both young and old to do similar acts of kindness for others in the community.”

Damion Collins, the community safety lead at the Forest Council, added: “It’s our pleasure to honour these three youngsters with the Outstanding Citizenship Award from Forest of Dean District Council.

“The initiative and spirit shown to help others in the area was fantastic to see and hear about and we’d encourage others in the area who’d like to nominate someone for this award in future to get in touch.”