Celebrity wildlife presenter Steve Backshall joined scouts from Barking and Dagenham as they received their first national award.

Winning second prize for their youth development project at the Scout Association’s awards ceremony in Warwick, the scouts were accompanied by daredevil scout ambassador Steve, best known for his work with the National Geographic and Discovery Channels.

Steve, 43, said: “This is a remarkable achievement for the scouts, winning one of the first ever National Scout Awards, and will be something they will remember forever.”

Barking and Dagenham Scouts have more than 300 members aged six to 25, and are taught skills ranging from first aid to leadership.

They bagged the prize on Saturday for coordinating a county swimming gala.

Scout leader Andrew Dodkins said: “Winning this award is amazing, especially since it’s our first national scouting award.

“We are so proud of what we have achieved.

“We’re always trying to encourage more young people and adult volunteers to join our thriving programme as we’ve seen the incredible things it’s done to these young people’s lives.”

Steve added: “Every young person should have the chance to be involved in scouting and although we are growing we still have a waiting list of over 45,000 scouts eager to be a part of the fun and adventure.

“All the scouts who were involved in the ceremony today should be tremendously proud of themselves and I am proud to be an ambassador of this adventurous movement.”