NHS, social care and other frontline workers have been granted the Freedom of Dudley Borough for their efforts during the coronavirus crisis.

The honour has been granted to staff in the National Health Service, public health, adult social care, children’s services, bereavement services and voluntary sector workers serving the people of the Dudley Borough during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Following cross-party consultation, a formal proposal went to an extraordinary meeting of the full council last night. It is part of a raft of measures the local authority is looking at to ensure the heroes of the fight against Covid 19 are recognised. Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council, said:

"Whilst the fight against the pandemic is not yet over, we believe it’s important to recognise the continuing efforts of all those people who are helping us all.

"We will now work cross party to find the best way to recognise these achievements. There are so many people to acknowledge, we want to make sure we do this in a meaningful way and will be announcing how we will due this over the coming months."