Patients, staff and visitors at an Oxford hospital have been urged to smile at a porter in recognition of their good work.

Pictured at the back, from left, are Abdul Rahman, Ian Gidney and Andy Cox. Front, from left: Eamon Wadley, Chris Puffett and Mick Kent.

Members of the 103-strong portering team at the John Radcliffe, in Headington, were on hand on April 29, to explain their important roles in the everyday running of the hospital.

Known as the heartbeat of the hospital, porters can be found in every area, transporting patients, specimens and drugs, collecting refuse and delivering mail.

Theatre porter Ben Emlyn-Jones, of Divinity Road, St Clements, has been a porter for 13 years, but has has also written and published a book called Evan's Land.

He said: "We're essential members of a life-saving team. Doctors and nurses get recognition, but we also work on the front line. The pay's not very good, but I feel very proud to be a porter."

Porters at the JR have had a difficult past, and threatened to take industrial action in 2000, claiming they were underpaid and badly trained.