IT WAS North Dorset’s night as a competition to recognise work to keep the county’s villages looking their best notched up its 25th year.

The Best Kept Village (BKV) large village award was scooped by Pimperne while Tarrant Monkton won best small village. Winfrith Newburgh just missed out in the large village category while Tincleton was an admirable runner-up in the small village section.

North Dorset didn’t take all the credit – Alton Pancras in the Piddle Valley won the BKV’s hamlet award for the second year running and with it a cheque for £150.

The winners said it was a tribute to the dedicated band of volunteers who take pride in their communities.

Terry Cowley of Alton Pancras said the village was delighted to win and joked: “We’re so small there’s not a lot they can judge us on.”

The BKV awards, organised by Dorset Community Action (DCA) since 1987, form the main part of the Dorset Best Village Competition. Frampton village hall was packed out for the presentation ceremony.

A birthday cake was cut at the end by a group of people who have been involved with the competition over the years. They included administrator Denise Paice who has worked behind the scenes at DCA for the past 25 years. She was made redundant from her job this year but volunteered to help out with the 2011 competition.

Magna Housing Association became the major sponsor for the competition last year and renewed its support in 2011 which ensured it went ahead.

Additional sponsorship came from Dorset County Council, the four district councils, the Dorset Echo – which presented framed front pages to two winners – plus other media organisations and local food retailers.

Magna chairman Ian Bullock said the awards encourage communities to work together to achieve a result.

There were awards to recognise community projects. Crossways won the Environmental Champions Award and £100 for its work turning a piece of wasteland into an allotment.

Meanwhile Melcombe Horsey received the People’s Project Award to recognise efforts by a couple to keep the bus stop looking smart.

Competition organiser Stan Wood, who will be stepping down after six years of running the event due to ill health, said 42 villages took part in the awards this year and that the standard was ‘first class’.

Former DCA chief executive Jane Raimes, who started the competition 25 years ago, said the awards were more than just recognition of tidy churchyards and freshly-cut flowers in bus stops. Comments made by judges over the years had helped to kick-start improvements to community facilities and with it, village life.