A ROYAL Marines musician has been rewarded for her exemplary service with a Long Service Good Conduct medal.

Colour Sergeant Jennifer Coupland, who is from Redcar, joined the Royal Navy in 1999 aged just 16. Now 32, she has travelled the world as part of the Royal Marines Band Service, and has spent the last 14 months based at HM Naval Base Clyde, in Scotland, where she is the Bandmaster of the HMS Neptune Volunteer Band.

The former Rye Hills Secondary School student was presented with her medal by Rear Admiral Richard Stokes, who was visiting the base in his capacity as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff Support.

She said: “I was delighted to be awarded my LSGC medal, after a long career in the Band Service. The highlight of my career has to be when I worked on a four-month exchange programme in 2008, when I played with the Royal Australian Navy Band.”

The bandmaster has served with bands from Scotland, Collingwood and Portsmouth and also had a stint at the Commando Training Centre in Devon.