PAT DUCE is licensed to inspect - having been bestowed with the number 0001.
The Stockton Borough Council enforcement officer has become the first in the country to be awarded a new environmental inspection qualification.
She can inspect premises classed as "higher risk" - such as steel stockholders and retail warehouses.
She was among the first to enrol for a university diploma course for enforcement staff and has become the first candidate in the UK to complete all training, pass all assessments and compile a detailed logbook of her work.
Receiving her Diploma in Health and Safety Enforcement - numbered 0001 - from the council's cabinet member for environment, Councillor Steve Nelson, Ms Duce said: "I am thrilled to be the first. The course was worth all the effort."
In 1996, Ms Duce was also one of the first to achieve the Higher Certificate in Food Premises Inspections and can inspect the full range of health and safety, and food safety, premises regulated by the council
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