A STRONG sense of community and impressive efforts to “go green” have helped villagers land a prestigious honour.

Residents of Boyton, near Woodbridge, are celebrating today after it was crowned Suffolk Coastal Village of the Year 2011.

Judges were impressed with its community spirit as well as a number of innovative environmentally-friendly projects.

The village has organised a bulk-buying scheme for heating oil, a vegetable exchange scheme, has taken part in a greener homes insulation initiative and carried out carbon footprint surveys. Residents are also looking into the possibility of installing solar panels to generate their own electricity.

Gary Lowe, chairman of Boyton Community Group, which was responsible for entering the competition, said: “We’re delighted to have won, it’s fantastic news. It is a very close-knit community. We try very hard to promote sustainable living and that seems to have particularly impressed the judges.”

Joan Sennington, chairman of Suffolk Coastal District Council and a member of the judging panel, said they were impressed with all entries, but felt Boyton had made the biggest community effort to help local residents.

“Their work to reduce their impact on the environment was particularly impressive, ” she said. Boyton will now compete in the countywide Village of the Year contest, organised by the Suffolk Association of Local Authorities with support from BT, the IP-City Network, Adnams brewery, BBC Radio Suffolk and the East Anglian Daily Times.