A RESPECTED groundsman who has kept community football fields in top condition has won a medal.

Jack Hornsby, 54, who looks after the Dodds Field football pitches and adjacent Seaton Park, in Hartlepool, picked up second prize in the Football Association's Groundsman of the Year competition.

To mark the achievement, Jack, of Greathem, was presented with a medal by Durham Football Association vice-president Tom Harvey.

Mr Hornsby said: "I am chuffed to bits with the award, which came as a complete surprise.

"I have been looking after the pitches at Seaton for about 15 years now and it is nice to be recognised like this."

He was nominated by Alan Thompson, secretary of the Hartlepool Church League and a former groundsman himself.