There's more to being a parking attendant than looking after cars!

A Pembrokeshire County Council employee has been praised for going beyond the call of duty in her work.

Barbara Powrie, who looks after car parks in Tenby, acted as ambulance driver and aide when an elderly lady fell and hurt herself in the Salterns car park last week.

She stayed with the 84-year-old from Saundersfoot throughout her ordeal, before finally getting home at around midnight.

The next day she was back at work at 9 am.

"It was a long day, but I always say that, although it's nice to be important, it's more important to be nice," said Barbara, who has been an attendant in Tenby for four years.

"Although my job is looking after the car parks, it's also about looking after Tenby and helping people so that they enjoy it.

"It's a team effort and I could not do what I do if it was not for the team back in the office too."

Tenby's parking attendants were alerted to the fall at 2 pm on Thursday. Barbara first took the lady to Tenby hospital; however, staff said she needed to go to Withybush Hospital for further treatment and X-rays.

Faced with a four-hour ambulance wait, Barbara then drove the lady to Haverfordwest in her own car and stayed with her at the hospital while she waited to be seen to.

At the same time, she kept in contact with the lady's partially-sighted husband, who was at home alone.

The elderly lady was eventually seen at just after 10 pm and was driven home at midnight by Pembrokeshire County Council's parking services manager, Geoff Sutton, who was concerned at the long delay for both the patient and Barbara.

"Barbara is a gem, a real one-off," he said. "She's a great ambassador for Tenby and also for the council.

"She is nothing like the public perception of parking attendants. She goes that little bit extra for people and always has a smile on her face too!"

Thursday's incident is not the first time that Barbara has been singled out for praise.

Just a week ago a holidaymaker from the Midlands wrote to the Tenby Observer praising her friendly nature and attitude to her job.

"She is very pleasant to talk to and a great ambassador for your town," he wrote. "I think she deserves a big thank you."