THE team at Landican Cemetery and Crematorium has received a prestigious national award.

Landican scooped the top honour for 'Best Service Team of the Year: Cemetery and Crematorium Service' at the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) awards in Edinburgh.

Designed to acknowledge 'excellence' in council services across the UK, the awards are open to all local authorities.

Cabinet member Cllr Phillip Brightmore said: “Congratulations to the team on their award – they absolutely deserve this recognition for all their hard work.

“This year sees more than £300,000 being ploughed into improvements at Landican, and shows how the Council is working hard to ensure the facilities are up to a standard Wirral residents expect when they are saying farewell to loved ones.

“These times are particularly difficult and stressful, and it is my hope that that these improvements will ensure Landican will be able to continue to provide the highest possible quality of service to those using them.”

The award comes after the Council approved a cash investment in facilities at the site.

Works have been carried out around services to minimise disruption and have ranged from replacement of roofs; new windows to side areas (large stained glass windows are not being replaced); new external doors; replacement of flooring and lights to standing areas and redecoration.

Improvements to the North Chapel have been completed while the South Chapel will be finished before the end of the year.

Previous works carried out in the crematorium since 2010 have also seen the introduction of new cremators and use of solar panels has helped reduce energy use.