Villagers celebrated as Mildenhall received its Wiltshire’s Best Kept Medium Village award from the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire on Sunday.

An 8ft standard and mounted shield now stands proudly on the village green after it won the Campaign to Protect Rural England competition, sponsored by the Hills Group.

Parish clerk Cameron McLennan paid tribute to volunteers who had worked hard to help the village win.

He said: “We’re very fortunate in this village that it’s always been a very active village, one which takes a lot of pride in itself.

“It’s very much about groups of volunteers picking litter, cutting grass and planting flowers, everyone is doing something to make sure the place is nice and tidy.

“This will give the village a bit of prestige.”

More than villages entered the competition.

The Laurence Kitching award, which is often referred to as the Winner of Winners competition because it is only open to villages which won an award in the previous two years, went to Great Hinton.

Picture caption: Barbara Philpott, left, Henry Pritchard and Alan Cannon of the Kennet Group CPRE, Derek Price, George McDonie, chairman of the Wiltshire Branch of the CPRE, High Sheriff Peter Addington, Brian Devonshire, Hills chief executive Michael Hill, Milly Carmichael, Lord Lieutenant Sarah Troughton, parish council chairman Sir Nigel Thompson andWiltshire Council chairman Coun Roy While next to the village sign. By Diane Vose (DV1699)