THE owner of an Indian restaurant in Swindon who spent the past year supplying free meals to NHS staff at Great Western Hospital has been hailed as a as a Covid hero.

The Khyber boss Sadik Ali has been singled out for his charitable deeds after Swindon Bus Company launched a campaign to recognise the efforts of key workers and community heroes during this health crisis.

In recognition of everything Sadik and his hardworking staff have done to help those living in the area around his Victoria Road restaurant, his name will take pride of place on a Swindon bus.

Mr Ali said: “I just really wanted to give something back to the hospital staff as they were working so hard to look after us all and they all needed a hot meal to help keep them going.

The town's bus operator launched the campaign at the start of this year and staff soon received lots of suggestions from members of the public of who they should highlight.

After combing through all the entries and making some tough decisions, the Khyber's crew came out on top.

Managing director Andrew Wickham said: “We were inundated with nominations from people across the town who were telling us about the wonderful acts of kindness carried out by so many in the most difficult of times,.

“Sadik and his team stood out because of their generous acts and selfless attitude, supplying hot meals to paramedics and staff on various wards at the hospital.

“His attitude, throughout the pandemic, has been that his restaurant has been shut but the NHS has not been, and he thought many of the hospital’s key workers had been too busy to shop and cook their own meals.

“So he stepped in last March and has been providing food, at his own cost, ever since then.

“Sadik Ali represents the very best of us, and I am delighted that we are able to recognise him as a Swindon Covid Hero.

“We were truly humbled by the number of people working so hard to keep our community going throughout the pandemic.

"They are all Covid Heroes - but Sadik’s efforts stood out above the rest.”