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Wiltshire's Top Villages Revealed

The winning villages in the 2007 Calor Wiltshire Village of the Year and Best Kept Village competition have been revealed.

The competitions are organised by the Wiltshire Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) with sponsorship provided by Calor - the UK's leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and additional support from Wiltshire Life Magazine.

In the Calor Village of the Year competition, the villages of Ashton Keynes and Atworth battled it out at a judging evening held on Monday 30 th July. It was an extremely close fight, but Ashton Keynes has just pipped Atworth to the £ 150 top prize and prestigious title of Calor Wiltshire Village of the Year for 2007.

The Calor Village of the Year judges commented: "Both villages made excellent presentations on Monday evening and it was a very tight call. However, the professionalism of Ashton Keynes' presentation was outstanding, and it was made very clear that community is at the forefront of every aspect of life in the village. Our congratulations go to both villages for being such great competitors, but especially Ashton Keynes as the overall winner."

As the Calor Wiltshire Village of the Year for 2007, Ashton Keynes now has the added honour of being nominated to go forward and represent the county at national level 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.

Branch Chairman of Wiltshire CPRE, George McDonic commented: "We congratulate Ashton Keynes on its achievement which was a real community effort and wish residents 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."

In the county's Best Kept Village competition, the results are as follows -

Large Village winner

Great Bedwyn (Kennet District Council)

Medium Village winner

Mildenhall (Kennet District Council)

Small Village winner

Compton Chamberlayne (South Wilts District Council)

George McDonic added: " It was very difficult to distinguish between the Best Kept Village participants because standards were so high across the board and there ended up being just a couple of marks separating the winners. Our congratulations go to the winning villages and also our thanks to all the villages that took part in this year's competition and made it the tough contest it was."

For further information regarding the Calor Wiltshire Village of the Year and Best Kept Village competitions, please contact Margaret Armand Smith, competition administrator, on 01380 722157, email wiltscpre@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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