A CARING Wee County man has been honoured by the Clackmannanshire British Legion for the help he provides to current military personnel and veterans.

Stevie Preston, who is the licence holder of the Station Hotel, Alloa, hosts the legion within his premises on a regular basis free of charge.

In keeping with his generous hospitality, he welcomed the veterans to the pub on Remembrance Sunday, putting on a special dinner for 40 people.

However, after the meal, the tables turned on Stevie as it was his turn to accept a gift, which was presented by legion member Robert Hunter.

Robert told the Advertiser that it was about time Stevie was honoured for the kindness he has shown to the servicemen and women.

He said: "Stevie is very generous with us. He does a lot with us and for us. He provides us with a venue free of charge and put on a meal for the veterans.

"There was around 35-40 plus partners including some serving soldiers, too."

And just to put the icing on the cake, Robert and the other members arranged for a truly "unique" and thoughtful gift for their man of the moment.

One of the Wee County legion members is in charge of firing the Edinburgh Castle cannon, which goes off at 1pm every day.

But instead of allowing one of the casings to go back and be refilled, he arranged for it to be collected and engraved with a message to Stevie.

"It was just a thank you for all the hard work that he puts in, plus the generosity that he shows us," Robert said.

"He was over the moon. It was a surprise and his wife didn't even know until five minutes before he was presented with it."