Lorry Middleton won the public vote to become the nation’s tourism superstar earlier this year and last night Visit England organised a virtual awards event to recognise his outstanding achievement.

Neil Chapman, managing director of Hovertravel, says: “Lorry’s commitment to customer service is an example to us all and he is frequently mentioned by name in the feedback we receive from our customers. Everyone at Hovertravel is delighted that he has now been recognised by the UK public. The current circumstances have made the normal awards ceremony impossible so the virtual awards evening with a mixture of live streaming and pre-recorded videos provided the best opportunity for Lorry to be officially awarded.”

Hovertravel has also arranged for Lorry and a guest to visit The Rock Hotel in Gibraltar for a couple of days on an all-expenses paid VIP trip. The prestigious Rock Hotel, part of the Bland Group which also includes Hovertravel, was built in 1932 and is situated on the foothill of Gibraltar's famous rock with panoramic vistas of the Bay and Straits of Gibraltar as well as the Spanish mainland.

Will Myles, Managing Director of Visit Isle of Wight, adds: “The Visit England /Mirror Tourism Superstar Award for Hovertravel's Lorry Middleton is well deserved and it was absolutely clear from Lorry's acceptance at last night's Visit England Awards for Excellence why he was the front runner throughout the entire competition.

“I'd like to thank everyone who supported Lorry in the national vote - this year has been unlike any other, and I know that throughout this time, Lorry has not lost his happy demeanour, making him such an asset to Hovertravel and to tourism on the Isle of Wight.

“I hope Lorry enjoys his trip to Gibraltar, it really is very much deserved!”

Lorry won the Customer Service Superstar category at the Beautiful South Awards and was nominated for the Visit England National Tourism Superstar competition by Visit Isle of Wight at the start of this year. There were ten finalists from across the country competing to be the nation’s favourite and Lorry garnered over a third of the total vote.