WYCHAVON district council has scored top marks for delivering value for money for the third year running.

The council achieved the success in the Audit Commission's 2007 Use of Resources test and is the only council to have scored top marks every year since the test was introduced in 2005.

The recently released Audit Commission report, which includes the 2007 scores from all councils, also confirmed that Wychavon was a top performer in the area of financial management, including financial planning and asset management.

The council also received an overall maximum score of four for financial reporting, financial standing and internal control and was one of only 12 out of 238 district councils to do so.

Councillor Bob Banks, portfolio holder for resources, said: "This is a tremendous achievement and it must be re-assuring for residents to know that their council taxes are used so efficiently."

The council's deputy managing director, Vic Allison, added: "We are very proud to be, once again, ranked as one of the best nationally in this financial test by the Audit Commission."