A TELEVISION production company in the region has won a major award for a film about the Piper Alpha oil disaster.

Berriff McGinty Films, based in Bedale, North Yorkshire, won Best Documentary category at the Scottish BAFTA ceremony for ‘Fire in the Night’ - which tells the stories of those who survived the North Sea disaster 25 years ago.

On the night of the explosion, producer-cameraman Paul Berriff was on the first rescue helicopter to arrive at the scene. His company was making a series of films for ITV about the work of rescue helicopters.

He filmed the dramatic rescue efforts to get the men off the platform and out of the sea, 167 lost their lives, 61 survived.

The 90 minute film, made with co-producers Scottish Television, was shown on BBC 2 this year to mark the 25th anniversary.

Mr Berriff said:”It was an honour to get the award. We wanted to make the film to give the survivors a chance to tell their stories, it was a harrowing inferno, you could see the fire from over 100 miles away.”

It’s Mr Berriff’s second BAFTA, in an astonishing career, the 67-year-old cameraman has travelled the world working with such famous names as The Beatles and been involved in some of the biggest news stories of modern times. He was filming at the Twin Towers when the planes struck.

“I do have a reputation in the industry, that if I arrive, there’s a disaster looming. I really enjoy the job I’ve been doing it for 45 years and the really nice thing about winning the BAFTA is it shows company’s outside London can win the awards, I’ve always been based in Yorkshire.” he added.

Berriff McGinty Films are based in the Craft Yard, Bedale