A SPECIAL police officer has been awarded a Young Volunteer Award at the Welsh Council for Voluntary Action Awards.

Special Inspector Laura Williams from North Wales Police’s Special Constabulary received her Best Young Volunteer in Conwy award at a ceremony in Llandudno Junction on June 15.

The 24-year-old, who works full time in a Conwy pub, was nominated by Specials Chief Inspector James Cook and Specials Chief Officer Mark Owen.

She is responsible for leading and managing the 20 strong Special Constabulary team in the West Conwy district, covering the busy coastal areas of Llandudno and Colwyn Bay.

Laura started in the North Wales Police Volunteer Cadets and in July 2012 joined the Special Constabulary and was posted to Llandudno where she began her Professional Development Plan.

Laura completed all the competencies quickly and was awarded Independent Patrol Status and was soon able to get involved in high visibility patrols around West Conwy.

In 2015 Laura carried out 289 hours of unpaid police work and following a restructure in 2016 she was promoted to the rank of Special Inspector for the West Conwy district.

Since taking command of the Special Constabulary Team in July 2016 she has led the team to complete 3,325 voluntary hours on district.

In January 2017 she was tasked with her biggest challenge yet which was the delivery of the security element at the high profile funeral of a retired North Wales Chief Constable.

Specials CI Cook added: “Over the course of her career Laura has consistently demonstrated a very high level of professionalism and has coped extremely well with what is a very demanding role.

“Laura has shown she is able to effectively manage and motivate her team to achieve its goals.

“She also shows a level of maturity and leadership that belies her age to the extent that she is now not out of place amongst her paid counterparts at Inspector level.”

North Wales Police are currently recruiting Special Constables and further information is available at www.north-wales.police.uk