EMPLOYEES at York-based Portakabin now have two reasons to celebrate.

First came the good news, reported in The Press last Wednesday, that about 220 production workers in Huntington have come off their four-day week to a full working week to meet a big new order which came in before Christmas.

Now the Portakabin's manufacturing engineering department has spread its own cheer by donating £500 to St Leonard's Hospice, in Tadcaster Road, York. The money represented their winnings after scooping the top accolade in the company's annual Safety Awards Mike Turnham, Portakabin's human resources director, said: "The manufacturing engineering department has an excellent safety record, with the best performance in this area over the past 12 months.

"The team fully deserves this award, and I'm delighted to say they've decided to donate the money to a very deserving local charity."

The awards, which have been running for ten years, recognise safety-related performance at work, taking into account scheduled safety meetings, initiatives implemented to reduce accidents, and the absence of incidents in the workplace.

Jonathan Ridsdale, Portakabin's plant maintenance manager, said: "This is the second year running that the department has won the company safety award and we're delighted once again to be helping another charity in the local area as a result of our success."

A "delighted" Janet Morley, director of fundraising at St Leonard's Hospice, said: "This money will be used for direct patient care, making a big difference to the quality of life for patients, carers and families that use the hospice.

"I'd like to say a big thank you to the team and to Portakabin as a whole for their ongoing support."