A DOCUMENTARY about RAF Harrowbeer at Yelverton and material from its 70th Anniversary weekend last August, has been among material which has led to a charity radio station scooping a prestigious national award.

Hospital Radio Plymouth was crowned 2012 HBA Station of Year at the National Hospital Radio Awards recently. It is the third time the Plymouth station has won this annual award with previous victories in 2008 and 2011.

Stations from all around the UK submitted extracts from their broadcasts over the past 12 months and a panel of judges ranging from senior healthcare figures to broadcasting professionals judged the clips in order to find the best hospital radio station in the country.

Hospital Radio Plymouth's entries included audio about the 70th anniversary of RAF Harrowbeer.

Listeners learned about how the Knightstone tea rooms used to be the control tower for the runways, how the runways themselves were constructed from rubble from the Plymouth Blitz and there was even an interview from inside one of the air raid shelters at the base.

The judging panel was impressed with the breadth of Hospital Radio Plymouth's coverage of local events and the extent of engagement with listeners in its day to day broadcasts.

Station Manager Andrew Hill said: 'I'm delighted we've retained the title of Station of the Year. It is our ethos to be more than just a glorified jukebox.

'We have a strong focus on bringing key local events to our listeners to ensure they can still feel part of these events even though they are laid up in hospital, and this seems to have resonated with the judges.'

Hospital Radio Plymouth is currently looking for volunteers to join its team. Mr Hill said: 'We are especially interested in people with broadcast engineering experience and those who have an interest in off air roles such as clerical and secretarial type duties or those with a talent for fundraising.'

Enquiries can be made by e-mail to [email protected]">[email protected] or by phone to 01752 763441.

A commemorative CD entitled 'The History of RAF Harrowbeer' is also available for purchase from the station at a cost of £5, plus postage and packaging.