A former RAF medic has been named top student at an award ceremony for the holistic therapy industry.

Lindsey Butterfield, from Dereham, was described as 'inspirational' as she was named Student of the Year 2015 by Holistic Therapist Magazine at the Holistic Business Awards, which took place on Sunday at The Olympia Beauty Show in London.

Mrs Butterfield left a promising career in the RAF to retrain as a counsellor and complementary medicine practitioner and beat off strong competition from hundreds of entrants nationally.

She qualified in numerous complementary therapies including Reiki and reflexology and also recently won an excellence award from the Federation of Holistic Therapists.

The nomination highlighted the resilience and determination of a mother and army wife to carve out the life she wanted to live after losing her parents.

She said: 'I am very touched to have received this award. After serving 16 years in the Royal Air Force as a medic I discovered Reiki on my resettlement phase.

'This experience opened up a whole other world for me, which I fell in love with instantly and constantly hunger for further knowledge and skills. It is an honour to be recognised for the study and training I have accomplished over the past two years'.

Six winners and 12 runners up from categories including Best New Business and Inspiration Award were also announced at the award ceremony which was the first of its kind.

Director Jayson Firmager said: 'We wanted to acknowledge the journey of those incredible individuals for their contribution to the industry and society as well as their achievements, regardless of their social media reach or public profile which allowed those who were previously unknown to the masses to truly shine.

'Lindsey's nomination stood out to the judges because of the numerous obstacles and challenges overcome to retrain and set up a business in a relatively short space of time which we found inspirational.'

* Have you won an award? Email kathryn.cross@archant.co.uk