TEN shops in Chippenham are celebrating after receiving a perfect ten out ten for their customer service.

A total of 90 businesses in the town were visited by a mystery shopper as part of a campaign supported by Chippenham Connected and 74 of them received awards ranging from platinum to bronze after the visits by customers from StoreCheckers.

Chippenham Connected manager Simon Philpott said the result dispelled the myth that Chippenham was not a good place to shop.

The average score for all businesses that were visited was 82.7 per cent for customer service. Those getting a perfect score were: Amare Bridalwear, BCH Camping, Buckles, Clever Minds, Edward and Alan, Jollye’s Petfood Superstore, Lightways, Lilies Tea Room, Mader Duffill and Taste of the Caribbean. They each received a platinum award.

Diane Etheridge, of Clever Minds which sells educational toys, said: "The award came as a complete shock but we were delighted. I hope people who live near Chippenham will come and see the many new shops in the town rather than going to Bath and other big towns."

Matthew Harvey, manager of Lightways, said: “We were absolutely thrilled with the award we received and it’s great to have recognition of the hard work and service we put in at Lightways. We always try to go a step above as an independent retailer in Chippenham. We were chuffed to bits."

Across Chippenham, 74 businesses received either a platinum, gold, silver or bronze Award for their achievements.

Mr Philpott said: “Once again the myth that Chippenham is not a good place to shop is dispelled.

"We all want shopping to be a pleasurable and positive experience and with such a high standard of customer service in our town one can be assured that shoppers are getting the best.”

The Chippenham Customer Service awards will be an annual event, supported by Chippenham Connected and carried out by Store Checkers UK. In 2018 the survey will be extended to include even more businesses.