A CARLISLE forklift truck operator has taken a top national prize.

Emily White, 25, of System Training, has won the Road Transport Industry Training Board forklift operator of the year competition after demonstrating her skills at the NEC in Birmingham.

She will now go on to compete in an international contest next year.

Miss White, System's national training planner, said it was a great example of what women can achieve in the logistics industry.

She said: “We have a lot of male candidates come in to System Training to do their forklift licences and not many female.”

“There’s no reason why there can’t be more women in logistics and we’d certainly love to see them at System Training”.

Dave Crawford, the company's commercial director, echoed this point.

He said: “Logistics is primarily male orientated,however, once again we have proof that female operators are generally safer and operate to a higher standard."

System Training, based in Brunthill Road, Kingstown Industrial Estate, Carlisle, provides training for the transport and logistics industry.

Its clients include construction materials firm Cemex, supermarkets Asda and Tesco, and the parcel courier Yodel.