East Budleigh and Bicton are celebrating after being awarded the Baker Cup for achieving most points in 2010 Best Kept Village competition.

East Budleigh and Bicton’s community spirit has been recognised by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, after taking part in a national competition.

The villages were recently jointly awarded a certificate and the Baker Cup for achieving the most points in the 2010 Best Kept Village competition.

East Devon District Council chairman Graham Liverton presented East Budleigh and Bicton with the trophy for scooping the most points in the large village category of the competition.

An East Devon District Council (EDDC) spokesman said: “Each year EDDC formally recognises the efforts made by villages within East Devon who have been given high points in the competition but who are not Devon-wide winners.”

The competition was organised by Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE).

Each year villages put themselves forward to win the national accolade.

East Budleigh, who in the past scooped the winning trophy, scored most points overall after judges visited earlier in May.

A spokeswoman for the competition said: “As has been the case in previous years the standards were particularly high and the judges found it very difficult to separate the top villages.

“The villages entered are very different and have their own unique features but we wanted to ensure that maximum points could be awarded whenever possible but that problem areas that were within the control of the villagers were accounted.”

The aim of the competition was to encourage community spirit and to improve the local environment by caring for buildings, clearing litter and promoting schemes to improve the general appearance of the area.