A DISPENSING optician has won a top national award.

Gill Thorp, of Airedale Opticians, has been crowned Dispensing Optician of the Year.

She took the accolade in the Optician Awards – winners were announced and presentations made in a ceremony at the Hilton Park Lane, London.

Gill – who has been with Airedale Opticians, which has branches in Keighley and Cross Hills, for over ten years – was new to optics when she joined the firm.

She said she was "shocked" to win the award.

"It was such an honour to be nominated as Dispensing Optician of the Year – I was totally shocked when I was announced as the winner!" she says.

"The Optician Awards are really prestigious for our industry. To receive recognition from industry experts and leaders is amazing.

"I've had some really lovely messages of support from patients, both in the run up to the ceremony and expressing congratulations afterwards.

"We have a great team at Airedale Opticians and it's wonderful to be rewarded for doing a job that I enjoy."

Tribute is paid by Mohammed Hafejee, optometrist at Airedale Opticians.

He says: "Since Gill joined us, she has progressed from part-time optical assistant and after studying on the dispensing opticians course at Bradford College, qualified in 2018.

"She has since become one of our 'go to' opticians for fashion and the expert dispensing of spectacles. She particularly excels with clients who come to us for low-vision advice, and will soon further her knowledge with a diploma in that field. She enjoys her low-vision clinics, which allow her to explore patients who suffer with a variety of eye conditions and help them get the best optical ­– glasses, telescope systems and magnifiers and low-vision aids – and non-optical devices.

"Customers love Gill's very friendly but professional advice.

"She is hugely popular amongst her peers and amongst customers, particularly at Cross Hills, where she lives and mostly works from. She's loved by her loyal followers who come back time and again to speak to her and ask for lens advice and glasses styling opinion, and she is renowned for her care with new contact lens wearers."

Mr Hafejee adds: "Gill is hugely integral to the success of Airedale Opticians.

"She is just wonderful to work with and a true asset to the company.

"She's the first in West Yorkshire to win this award, and we're extremely proud."