A BARROW shipyard engineer and his wife have been honoured at a prestigious awards ceremony for their efforts to promote heart screenings.

Sue and David Hughes faced every parents worst nightmare when their 28-year-old son, Dan, died from an undiagnosed heart defect in his sleep four years ago.

Following his death, the couple established the Daniel Hughes Heart Screening Fund which aims to provide a minimum of 200 local young people with access to annual heart screenings.

Since they began fundraising, David, Sue and their daughter Kim have raised more than £215,000 towards the fund, generating local and national recognition.

The family received a phone call six weeks ago informing them that they had a won a Pride of Birmingham Award which is an affiliate of the Pride of Britain Awards.

Mr Hughes, who lives with his family in Stoke-on-Trent, felt 'honoured' to be recognised yet found the circumstance 'bittersweet'.

He said: "I would, of course, prefer that Dan was here but I can't change a thing and so we have to raise as much awareness as possible.

"The award was very much a surprise but we plan on using it to good effect."

The ceremony, which was hosted by television star Kym Marsh, featured dozens of remarkable stories from all walks of life.

Mr Hughes said: "The night was very emotional.

"We saw other stories as well as our own and they were so heart-warming.

"It was a lovely night. If we had just sat there and not won an award, that would've been good enough."

Since its establishment, the Screening Fund has financed the screening of 1,204 young people, 37 of which were referred for further investigation or treatment.

The couple are still currently campaigning for more heart screening facilities in Barrow.

Mr Hughes said: "We just need to try and get the funding in place.

"It doesn't happen overnight but I am confident it will happen.

"It's absolutely vital we increase these services."