A THREE-MAN AA patrol has won an award for helping to save the lives of elderly residents trapped in a snow-bound nursing home.

The team was awarded the citation after it battled through blizzard conditions to restore power to the home where residents and staff were stranded by bad weather last winter.

Jim Frost, 54, from Consett, Mark Bowens, 40, from Middlesbrough and Paul Bowman, 44, from Newcastle, were commended for their part in two-day rescue effort, working alongside four other volunteers.

They set up generators to restore heating, lights and cooking facilities for more than 30 elderly and infirm residents at the Birch Hill home in Norham, near Berwick, Northumberland.

The heavy snow had brought down power lines to the home and it was expected to take up to five days to restore the electricity.

Mr Frost, 54, of Delves Lane, had just finished his shift when he received a call asking for volunteers to take a generator to the home. The team took three hours to reach the home, then a further hour in blizzard conditions to hook up the generator and get it working.

All the men involved in the rescue were presented with their awards by AA general manager for the North and Scotland Gary Meadows, at a ceremony at Durham