CUMBRIA County Council has landed an award for its role in launching the UK's first track & trace app that helped in the fight again the coronavirus.

The authority won IT firm Netcall's, Liberty Create 2020 App of the Year Award.

It was built in just ten days using the firm's 'low code solution' Liberty Create.

The latest recognition of the council's achievement follows praise from the county's director of public health, Colin Cox - it even got a mention on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

The app has helped to reduce the impact of covid-19 on the local community.

More than 4,500 cases of the virus were recorded, enabling the track & trace team to notify 97 per cent of people who had come into contact with an infected individual, much higher than the national average of 62 per cent.

Judges took into account factors like customer experience, digital transformation, and innovation.

The council was also runner-up in the Innovation Award which was recognised was recognised for its expanded offering to facilitate the distribution of personal protective equipment across the region.

Richard Billington, chief technology officer at Netcall, said: “The differences this application has made to organisations, customers, communities and beyond were genuinely astonishing to all of us on the panel.

"We salute the ingenuity and dedication of the build team.”

It was one of a number of awards for innovation handed out by the firm in the face of the pandemic.