Scottish-based Royal Navy rescue helicopters have won the Senior Service’s top media award for 2002.

Gannet Search and Rescue (SAR) Flight, based at Prestwick on the Ayrshire coast, was chosen to receive the Desmond Wettern Fleet Award, presented annually to the ship, squadron or unit which has done most to project a positive image of the Royal Navy through the various channels of the media, print and broadcast.

The award is named in honour of journalist and writer Desmond Wettern, who was for many years the naval correspondent on the Daily Telegraph. The award was first presented in 1993.

Gannet SAR, with its close links with the community and its key role in medical emergencies, has won favourable coverage in local and national media.

Tasks undertaken have included searches, medical evacuations, and providing aid to ships and boats in distress.

The unit has set up a special link with BBC Scotland, allowing dramatic footage of operations to be fed directly to the broadcaster for its news bulletins.

Gannet SAR has also featured in TV series such as Rockface, The Planman and 2,000 Acres of Sky, while a documentary crew filmed the transfer of a baby from hospital in Northern Ireland to a special care unit at Glasgow on Christmas Day.

Lt Cdr Robbie Burns of Gannet SAR said that the unit was surprised to win in the face of stiff competition from such seasoned media campaigners as aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.

“We don’t concentrate on PR but everybody gets involved. That’s the way it generally works up here. Ideas come up and we just run with it,” said Lt Cdr Burns.

“We have to keep flexible in such a small unit.”

Despite its size – Gannet SAR has around 70 personnel – the base covers a large part of the UK, from Northern Ireland to the mountains of Scotland, the Western Isles to the Lake District in Cumbria.

The unit is equipped with Sea King helicopters.