Two Cumbrian businesswomen have been given a prestigious award by the Prime Minister for their voluntary work during the floods in December.

Tara Vallente and Clare Horsburgh were presented with their Point of Light Award during a special reception for Flood Heroes at 10 Downing Street on Monday.

They are the 503rd and 504th people in the UK to receive the award since it was created two years ago.

Ms Vallente, 43, runs Tara Vallente PR & Media, whilst Ms Horsburgh, 48, is a director at Four Seasons Food Ltd.

The 500th award went to David Wiseman of Team Rubicon, one of the army veterans who came to Keswick and helped clean up some of the worst hit homes.

Team Rubicon is a group of military veterans that use their skills to act in emergency response situtions.

Ms Vallente said: “A super huge thank you to the people who nominated us as MP Jamie Reed’s "Flood Heroes" for our work in Keswick's food bank after the floods. We are both honoured and humbled.

“It was amazing to be invited to 10 Downing Street and then to receive a special Point Of Light award as well was just magic and a total surprise.

“There are so many people worthy of recognition and we feel that we could have taken hundreds of people with us to Downing Street who were totally selfless after the floods.

“We didn't do the Foodbank alone - we had awesome help. Not least in the shape of our husbands Dominic Booth and Andrew Horsburgh who had to hold the fort at home while we helped feed other families.”

“It started with ordinary people in Keswick responding to our call on Facebook for non-perishable goods.

“We had a 15 year old boy who had bought tins from the Spar to donate, we had an older lady who had spent her Boots vouchers on toiletries to donate, we had lots of families emptying their kitchen cupboards bringing food, clothes, towels and offering their time.”

The team also fed 64 veterans from Team Rubicon during their stay in the initial clean up and welcomed volunteers from around the country and co-ordinated the delivery of food parcels to people isolated by the floods.

It became a focal point for several Muslim charities who came and asked us who needed help in the clean up.

Tara added: “It was heartwarming to see how many people pulled together - it was a real multicultural and multi faith response where people from all walks of life extended a kind hand.

“We hope we never have to open again, but we would do it again in a heartbeat.

“Clare and I would both like to dedicate our award to the memory of farmer Alistair Birkett - he was a true gentle giant who was always generous with his time and was passionate and selfless in helping people after the floods.”