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County Contest Results Revealed

The winning villages in the 2007 Calor Lancashire & Merseyside Village of the Year competition have been revealed.

The competition is organised by the Lancashire Association of Parish and Town Councils (LAPTC), with sponsorship provided by Calor - the UK's leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). Entrants were judged on six aspects of rural village life covering Community Life, Business, Young People, Older People, the Environment and Information Communication Technology (ICT).

The Lancashire village of Borwick has been revealed as the overall winner of the competition, gaining the prestigious title of Calor Lancashire & Merseyside Village of the Year for 2007, as well as the £ 500 top prize.

The full results of the competition are as follows -

Winner - Borwick (Lancashire)

Runner Up - Wrea Green (Lancashire)

Third Place - Cronton (Merseyside)

Judges' Special Award - Staining

Highly Commended -

Mawdesley

Rimington & Middop

Yealand Conyers

As the runner up, Wrea Green will receive £250. A prize of £100 will be given to Cronton. In addition, as the winner of the judges' special award - awarded for the high standard of its written entry, Staining will be presented with £75 prize money. All the successful villages in the competition will also received framed commemorative certificates, to be presented at an

awards event taking place on Friday 14th September at the LAPTC Offices, Howick House, Howick Park Avenue, Penwortham, Preston.

Competition co-ordinator, Marion Gelder commented: "Our congratulations go to all seven successful villages; our judges were extremely impressed with all of them and had a difficult task awarding the prizes. However, we must particularly congratulate Borwick on gaining the overall title. For a tiny village with just 162 electors, they have so much going on and such good community spirit and they really deserve the top spot."

As the Calor Lancashire & Merseyside Village of the Year for 2007, Borwick now has the added honour of being nominated to go forward and represent the county in the prestigious Calor Village of the Year® for England competition 2007/8. This will give them the opportunity of gaining recognition at national level as well as a share of a prize fund totalling more than £36,000.

Marion Gelder added: " We wish Borwick the best of luck in the Calor Village of the Year® for England competition. They are an outstanding community and did exceptionally well in the county competition. We are sure that this success can be replicated at national level."

For further information regarding the Calor Lancashire & Merseyside Village of the Year competition, please contact Marion Gelder on 01772 750900, email laptc@btconnect.com.

Ends

Further press information available from: Emma Flinn, Connectpoint, tel: 0161 817 4221, email: emma.flinn@connectpoint.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

Calor Village of the Year®

Calor, the leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) to those living and working in the countryside, has supported rural activities in England, Scotland and Wales for 20 years through its Rural Sponsorship programme, which includes the Calor Village of the Year® for England competition.

The Calor Village of the Year® for England competition, now in its eleventh year, was founded and developed by Calor, and is organised and funded by the company on an annual basis.

Please note that Calor Village of the Year® is a registered trademark and should be referred to in full in all circumstances.

Entry to the Calor Village of the Year® for England competition is through the existing county competition network. Every year, Calor sponsors the majority of the county village competitions – which this year total more than 40 – each of which is invited to nominate one village to take part in the Calor Village of the Year® for England competition.

The national Calor Village of the Year® judges look for well-balanced, pro-active, caring communities which, irrespective of size, have made the best of local opportunities to maintain and enhance the quality of life for all residents.

The prize money for the 2007 national Calor Village of the Year® for England competition alone stands at over £36,000. First prize is £7,000 with £2,000 going to each of five regional winners. In addition, there are five category prizes of £500 within each region (covering Business, Environment, Care for Older People, Care for Young People and Information Communications Technology), and a prize of £750 for the winner of the Building Community Life category in each of the five regions. The five regional winners of the Information Communication Technology category are judged to find an overall winner, the award for which is £1,000. There is also, thanks to support from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a prize of £2,000 for an overall Building Community Life winner, which is selected from the five regional winners.

For general information on the Calor Village of the Year® for England competition:
email: info@calorvillageoftheyear.org or visit: www.calorvillageoftheyear.org

For all media enquiries relating the Calor Village of the Year® competition, please contact Emma Flinn:
email: emma.flinn@connectpoint.co.uk or tel: 0161 817 4221

For all general enquiries relating to the Calor Village of the Year® competition, please contact Brian Challis: email: b.challis@ntlworld.com or tel: 01962 629768

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