THIS year’s Suffolk Village of the Year has been announced.

Clare, near Sudbury, has come out tops followed by Moulton, near Newmarket and Wickham Market.

The competition is run by the Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC).

Judges were impressed by all this year’s entries but Clare stood out as the winner.

Jane Cole, deputy chief executive officer for SALC, said: “I think it was the sense of community. That came through very strongly and there is a very active parish council.

“All the entries were very impressive and I believe the scoring was extremely close - just a few points between them all.

“The standard of the whole competition was very high. To get into the final three this year was quite a feat in itself. It was very tough.”