IT'S been almost a year since Mick Watson became the first winner of the Local Heroes npower Leading Light Award - and what a year it has been.

The 38-year-old's vision to encourage youngsters to turn away from a life of crime to take up angling has taken on a new dimension with the opening of the Get Hooked on Fishing headquarters, near Witton Park, County Durham, last month.

Wadsworth Fishery became the first of its kind when it opened as the Angling and Conservation Centre on August 11.

For Mick it was a dream come true and the perfect base for Durham Police's award winning scheme Get Hooked on Fishing, which he set up in April 2000.

Since its opening some 300 youngsters have passed through the doors and 98 per cent of those have now applied for a fishing licence. It is estimated that the centre will cater for 1.000 youngsters a year.

Mick's efforts have not gone unoticed by Her Majesty herself. The Queen named him in the New Year's Honours list to receive the Queen's Police Medal.

Mick said: "It was quite a shock. My family and I went down in May and she told me that I had found the key to stopping youngsters from getting into trouble and shown them how to have a more rewarding life.

"It was nice to be able to share this with my family because I have spent a lot of time working on all of this."

The new centre is aiming to introduce angling to people from all walks of life from the richest to the poorest, from the most disabled to the most able bodied.

Mick's vision is to build another eight of these centres around the country and he hopes this will come to fruition during his three year career break from the police force.

He is currently working with an organisation called Safe in Stoke which is looking at restoring a Victorian boat house on a park lake to become centre No 2.

He said "This is one of my priorities at the moment, getting the funding to do that."

Wadsworth Fishery was a £400,000 project was funded partly through the Countryside Agency, the Environment Agency, Get Hooked and Bishop Auckland Angling Club.

Mick said: "What is important now is that people know that the place is open for adults who want to fish as well as young people.

"I think people do not realise it is open yet because we have yet to officially launch it. We are looking at having a big do in November to thank everyone who has helped to get us this far."

Gary Doig, npower's community relations officer for the North-East said: "Mick Watson was a great winner of the first npower Leading Light Award at Local Heroes 2003.

"At sponsor of the Local Heroes Awards 2003, npower, the energy and essential home services provider for the North-East, firmly believes in putting energy into the community it serves, providing the necessary support and encouragement for people like Mick.

"npower's community relations programme works to deliver innovative projects and schemes in three key areas; education, environment and promoting wider opportunities for people with disabilities.

"The judging panel selected Mick as the overall winner from an outstanding short-list of contenders and presented him with a cheque for £500.

"This year we are looking for other unsung heroes like Mick to fight it out for the title npower Leading Light Award 2003, big-hearted local people who are committed to supporting sport in their own community at grass-roots level. Let's hope we're inundated with lots of great entries!"