A Dawlish man has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, for his community service as a volunteer driver.

Pete Ward has been driving people to GP and hospital appointments for seven years, with the Teignmouth Hospital-based charity Volunteering In Health.

The charity's manager, Chloe Myers, described him as 'the loveliest man' and said he constantly goes out of his way for patients, 'dropping everything' to make sure they get to their medical appointments on time.

Mr Ward described the role as 'not a job, but a joy' and said he loves chatting to patients as he drives them around.

He said he is 'humbled and honoured' to be recognised in the Honours List.

Mr Ward has been retired for 15 years, after working in the motor trade in Cornwall, and then for the Professional Golfers' Association in Exeter and Guildford.

He began driving for the Teignmouth charity after being approached by one of its staff.

He said: "I was in a flu jab queue at the Barton Surgery in Dawlish and there was a tap on my shoulder, and the then transport operative from Volunteers In Health, a lady called Jo, said, 'you look like a likely customer, come with me', and the rest is history.

"We had quite a long chat and it appealed to me, quite frankly.

"The role is fantastic, it's not a job, it's a joy.

"I think one thing I do like is, the patients are a similar age group to myself so the topics of conversation are very similar.

"I've learned so much in the times that I've been taking patients to appointments, about the history of Teignmouth and Dawlish."

Mr Ward didn't even let the Covid-19 lockdown stop him working with Volunteering In Health.

He said: "The whole office went into lockdown in March and didn't open again until mid-September.

"But I decided I could cope with a one-to-one situation. People were crying out for transport to medical appointments.

"I was able to transport quite a few people to appointments they wouldn't have been able to get to otherwise."

Because of the ongoing uncertainty over Covid-19, Mr Ward isn't sure when he will receive his British Empire Medal.

But he said he wants the award to reflect all the work of Volunteering In Health, not just his own contribution.

"They're a great organisation and I would honestly say I'm just a small cog in a very big wheel and I feel very honoured and privileged and proud.

"I'd like to feel that I've accepted it on behalf of the whole organisation."