THE Journal has been praised by Worcestershire County Council for performing a vital community role. The pat on the back has come following the Newspaper Society's Local Newspaper Week during which research revealed that threequarters of residents prefer to receive information about the county council through newspaper articles.

Stories and the letters page also stimulate and provide debate on the delivery of education, social care, road maintenance, libraries and other county council services.

Councillor Adrian Hardman, of Bredon, the county council's communications spokesman, said: "We do not underestimate the vital role our newspapers play in informing residents of what we are doing for them and involving them in the decision-making process. It's through the great work of papers like the Journal that we communicate with the public and we in turn are held to account for the services we provide."

He added: "The Audit Commission has told us we are a good council, but our officers are human beings and occasionally the service we provide is not up to the standard that residents should expect. It is on these rare occasions the Journal lets us know that residents are not happy and we must do better."

County council chief executive Rob Sykes said: "We take our relationships with our newspapers very seriously because, similar to the county council, a lot of our reporters live in Worcestershire. They, like us, care about the quality of services delivered."