A 15-year-old St John Ambulance volunteer has won a role as one of the charity’s top cadets.

Beth Smith, who lives in Watford, scooped the title of the West Anglia District Cadet of the Year at a competition in Newmarket last month.

In a competition designed to single out the area’s most outstanding cadet, Beth had to complete a first aid challenge to demonstrate her life-saving abilities, take part in a team building exercise, and give a presentation to and be interview by the judges.

She will now represent her fellow cadets in the West Anglia District, which covers Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, throughout 2017 at public at St John Ambulance events.

She will join three other East of England cadets to compete for the title of overall East of England Cadet of the Year and National Cadet of the Year in April.

Beth, who has been a St John Ambulance volunteer for five years, has been able to assist individuals with diabetes by recognising when they were starting to go “hypo” and giving them glucose tablets.

She has also successfully completed 22 of 24 subjects required to attain the Grand Prior Award, the highest qualification available to a St John Ambulance cadet.

Beth said: “I'm really pleased to have been selected as West Anglia District Cadet of the Year. Carrying out this role will be a great way to show my gratitude to St John Ambulance and also to demonstrate to others what the charity is like and how they can get involved.”

Ian Callaghan, youth manager for St John Ambulance’s East Region, added: “Beth was an excellent candidate who performed extremely well in the competition and she is a great role model to the younger cadets in the organisation.

“I hope she enjoys her year in office and I am sure she will make the most of all of the opportunities offered to her and encourage more young people to learn the skills that can be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.”