THE man behind the successful Safe Drive Stay Alive campaign in central Scotland was awarded the Blue Light Hero at the Pride of Forth Valley Awards.

Alan Faulds was given the recognition earlier this month for going above and beyond the call of duty in helping the community.

For the past eight years, Alan has been the local area liaison officer with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in Alloa and Stirling.

However, he is also chair of the Central Safe Drive group – one of the many Safe Drive Stay Alive organisations set up across the UK.

The programme sees every fourth year pupil in Forth Valley taken to the macrobert arts centre in Stirling over the course of a week.

Once there they are shown a film depicting a reenactment of an actual traffic incident and as it progresses the film is paused and various members of the emergency services come on stage to describe their role in the incident as well as how it affects them personally.

The film ends with family members and people affected by devastating injuries as a result of bad driving practices.

It has been hailed for its success in contributing to a stark decreased in those killer or seriously injured on the roads.

Melanie Mitchell, treasurer of the Central Safe Drive, described Alan as the "driving force behind the initiative".

She said: "As a result of attending many road traffic incidents over the years, Alan is passionate about road safety.

"In 2006 he set up the Central branch of Safe Drive Stay Alive and in those years he has spent a considerable amount of his own time fundraising to enable the group to put on a hard hitting show to every fourth year pupil throughout Forth Valley.

"He also arranges every aspect of the event from booking the venue and arranging buses for every school to arranging for the other participants in the show and additional volunteers.

"Alan also gives talks on road safety to many different groups including children, the elderly and young offenders both through work and in his own time.

"In the 10 years that SDSA has been running the numbers of fatalities and life altering injuries has been dramatically reduced in the 16-24 year old age group that the show targets.

"Early in 2017 SDSA will perform its 100th show and have its 10 year anniversary, and it is solely down to Alan that the event is still ongoing. Safe Drive Stay Alive means so much to him that he's even had the logo tattooed over his heart."