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Three out of the four highly commended finalists were Driver Hire drivers with Worcester's Alan Pryce-Jones and Dartford's Ross Munday vying with Colin for the Agency Driver of the Year title.

Colin has been a temporary driver with Driver Hire Maidstone for over seven years and was awarded for 'going out of his way to assist his fellow drivers and office staff'.

REC stated that Colin's pro-active approach to the job, particularly in health and safety, goes to the very heart of the major problem trucking companies have when they hire an agency driver - namely do they have the ability to handle a company vehicle safely and effectively and not have an accident? In particular, Colin had put a great deal of time and effort into improving the reversing skills of his fellow drivers, thereby reducing the risk of accident damage or injury.

Gareth Osborne, the REC's managing director, said: 'The UK's dynamic labour market is the envy of Europe. As many of our EU counterparts struggle with unemployment, we continue to lead the way in terms of job creation. The vital contribution of the UK's army of temps is felt every day but only gets formally recognised once a year.'

He added: 'It is an outdated fallacy that temps are low-skilled and underpaid. The fact is that many choose to temp to suit their lifestyle, develop new skills or supplement their permanent income. Any legislators or trade unions who try to strangle this flexibility will only damage UK business and put an end to what is a positive lifestyle choice for many.'

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