VILLAGERS in Great Bardfield are celebrating after their community won through in two categories of the Calor Village of the Year regional heats. Although it did not win overall for East England - that honour went to Swanton Morley – Great Bardfield fough

VILLAGERS in Great Bardfield are celebrating after their community won through in two categories of the Calor Village of the Year regional heats.

Although it did not win overall for East England - that honour went to Swanton Morley - Great Bardfield fought off competition from six other villages to win through in Business and Communications.

Its success follows a recent visit judges, who were shown just what the village has to offer, with the community being showcased across four categories: Community - a better place to live; Business - a better place to work; Sustainability - a better future; and Communications - being in contact.

As the regional category winner for Business and Communications, the village now has a few weeks to wait before finding out if it has triumphed at national level.

The five regional judging teams (covering north, south, east, west and central England) will come together to debate which of the regional category winners deserves the �500 national awards.

Great Bardfield parish clerk Kate Fox said: "We didn't win overall but were very glad to win Regional Village of the Year in the two categories of communications and business. We now go through to the national finals in those two categories. So not bad!"

Calor Village of the Year manager, Holly Sims, said: "Congratulations to Great Bardfield. I'm sure the community will be on tenterhooks over the next few weeks before the national category winners are revealed. We very much look forward to hearing the outcome and wish them the best of luck."

Details of the national winners will be revealed on November 24.

To find out more about Calor Village of the Year, including full details of participating villages, visit the competition website at www.calorvillageoftheyear.org