It's simply the best - and now it's official.

Great Bentley has scooped the prestigious title of Great Britain's best village of the year.

In a presentation at a London ceremony today (Tuesday), Lynda McWilliams, chairman of Great Bentley Parish Council, and Bob Wright, president of the Great Bentley Village Show, received a cheque for £3,000 on behalf of the village.

The village was entered in this competition by the Rural Community Council of Essex.

It beat more than 100 entrants to be the first village in Tendring to take the title of Essex Village of the Year in July.

It was then victorious in the eastern England and home counties region of the competition.

But not content with that prestigious prize, it went on to beat off six other entrants on the short-list for national winner.

The competition judges said: "It impressed us as an idyllic place in which to live, yet it was very evident that it had not become complacent about this.

"On the contrary we gained the firm impression that it was continuously seeking to ensure that all its inhabitants and its environment were well cared for."

The competition was sponsored by Calor Gas and the Daily Telegraph and the prize must be spent on a community project. The village green is the largest in the country at 43 acres.

Judges added: "The blend of cherishing their heritage, yet moving with the times, was impressive."

And they concluded: "All in all Great Bentley seems to have almost everything that a community could hope for."

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