Judges were impressed with Dunmow High Street which has been named as one of the top five in the country this week.

It was picked out of 900 entries as part of the Great British High Street Awards in the Best Small Market Town High Street category.

In the application the Dunmow Town Team had to explain why Dunmow alive and thriving, mentioning various initiatives including the Shop Local, Shop Dunmow campaign and the new defibrillator.

Town Team member Anna Harvey of Scarlett and Stone - The Beauty Experts, said: “It’s wonderful to think we stood out amongst the vast amount of entries, we are so happy to have impressed the judges with our High St joined-up thinking and the success of our ShopLocal #ShopDunmow Campaign.”

It narrowly missed out of the named top three – Thame, Chipping Norton, and Hebden Bridge – for which the public can now vote to pick a winner.

Vote at www.thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk/high-street-of-the-year-award.

High Streets Minister Andrew Percy said: “Great Dunmow demonstrated many of the things we were looking for: a commitment to revitalising the high street as a unique place for living, working and shopping.

“Great Dunmow just missed out on the public vote this year but can take great pride in reaching the final 5 and being named one of Britain’s best high streets.”

Winners will get a share of the prize pot worth £100,000, training from Google’s digital taskforce, and a trip to Twitter’s London office to boost their social media skills.

The Great British High Street Competition 2016 is one of a number of initiatives to help champion high streets.

People can still sign up for a Dunmow discount coin at the Tourist Office in the Library in Dunmow, or book for the next high street event, an ice-rink, at visitgreatdunmow.co.uk.