The village of St Day has been revealed as Cornwall’s top village, scooping the title of Calor Cornwall Village of the Year for 2008.

A total of five Cornish villages were in line for prizes in the competition, which is organised by Cornwall Rural Community Council (CRCC) with sponsorship provided by Calor – the UK’s leading supplier of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) – in association with the Western Morning News.

The villages of Coverack, Kingsand/Cawsand, Week St Mary, and Wilcove just missed out on the winner’s title, putting up a good fight in what was a very close contest.

Competition organiser on behalf of CRCC, Sharon Davey, commented: “Overall, the standard of entries was very high so our congratulations go to all the villages involved, whether they have won a prize or not.”

Peter Burton, a member of the judging team, added: “I was impressed by the amount of effort that the entrants put into ensuring the judges’ visit was both informative and enjoyable. We learnt so much about how these villages function and we were amazed at the sheer diversity of groups and activities that exist out there. The places we visited are rightly proud of their achievements and of their individual community identities and I hope that more villages will be encouraged to enter next year’s competition”.

As the Calor Cornwall Village of the Year for 2008, St Day now has the additional honour of being nominated to go forward to represent the county in the prestigious Calor Village of the Year® for England competition 2008/9. This will give villagers the opportunity of gaining recognition at national level as well as a share of a national prize fund totalling more than £40,000.

Sharon Davey concluded: “We wish St Day the best of luck in the Calor Village of the Year for England competition. They’re a great community and we’re sure they’ll do really well at national level.”

For further information regarding the county competition, please contact Sharon Davey at CRCC on 01209 614950.