The East Sussex village of Fairlight and West Sussex village of Fishbourne have been chosen as the overall winners of this year's contest.

Three further villages – Forest Row and Ticehurst in East Sussex, and Ashurst Wood in West Sussex - picked up prizes at the awards event on Friday (July 4) at The Millennium Hall, Scaynes Hill.

The competition, sponsored by Calor aims to celebrate the villages which are best at working together to boost local quality of life.

Sponsorship has also come from Sussex Police, The Sussex Police Authority, Sussex Community Foundation and the Sussex Association of Local Councils.

The overall winners, one from each county, received £1,000, with £200 for the winners in each of two categories for both East and West Sussex.

Prizes for the Sussex competition were awarded in two categories according to the number of residents.

The winners were:

Population 1001- 5000 ; East Sussex – Fairlight; West Sussex – Fishbourne

Population 5001-10,000; East Sussex - Forest Row; West Sussex - Southwater

The judges also awarded the villages of Ticehurst in East Sussex and Ashurst Wood in West Sussex runner-up prizes of £75 each in category 2.

The panel, trustees and staff from Action in rural Sussex, rated each entry on six aspects of village life: business, young people, senior citizens, quality of life, communication and information. The charity works across both counties in support of rural communities.

The county's nominees to the 2007/8 national competition, Fernhurst (West Sussex) and Rotherfield (East Sussex) have recently been visited by competition judges, and will find out if they've won any prizes in the competition at an awards luncheon to be held on Tuesday December 2 at the Guildhall in London.

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