The village of Week St Mary is over the moon after winning the 2009 Calor Cornwall Village of the Year competition.

They had to beat off five other finalists to land the top title, which was announced at the Cornwall Rural Community Council offices on Friday afternoon.

Week St Mary defeated the other villages which reached the final stages — Carharrack, Gorran Haven, Kingsand/Cawsand, St Agnes and Sticker/Hewaswater in the competition which is run by the Cornwall RCC and sponsored by Calor.

Sharon Davey, the competition organiser said: ""Our congratulations go to all the villages in this year's competition. We were very impressed by the standard of the villages and the judges had a very tough job selecting the winners who represent the best of Cornish community life.

"It was a closely fought competition but there can only be one county champion winner."

Week St Mary now goes forward to represent Cornwall in the national Calor Village of the year for England competition in September, with the winner to be announced in December.

Martin Treman, representing competition sponsor Calor, together with representatives from Cornwall Community Foundation and the Tanner Trust — the local supporters of the competition — presented the winning village with a plaque and prize money of £250. Prizes of £150 and £100 were awarded to those in second and third place respectively.