AN enterprising Post Office dubbed a "jewel in the crown" has won a Worcestershire village a top business award.

Hanley Swan, near Upton-upon-Severn, has been named in the Calor Gas and Daily Telegraph Great Britain Village of the Year Competition.

The village, which has a population of just 911, won £500 to spend on a community project, plus a permanent plaque.

Judges looked at the village's environment, business success, care for older and young people and community life.

"A village that can maintain, support, and even enhance its business life has already gone a long way towards ensuring its long-term survival," said a spokesman for the panel.

"Hanley Swan is up with the leaders, having a wide range of businesses both in the centre and on the outskirts of the village where there are several small, light industrial estates and units housed in redundant farm buildings and army huts."

The panel praised the number of jobs created by the village's enterprises, including the butchers' shop, family bakery, bed & breakfast businesses, and The Swan pub.

But it singled out the Post Office and stores, which recently used a Village Initiative Award to pay for an extension and computer area.

"It's the jewel in the crown, and must be a source of local pride and an example to other rural communities," the spokesman said.

The shop offers newspaper deliveries, grocery and pension deliveries, a shoe repair service and laundry.

It also provides a photocopier, fax machine, computer with printer, scanner and digital camera and allows internet and e-mail access. It even boasts its own web site and personal e-mail box service.

"We're very fortunate because we've got a lot of village support," said Caroline Sutton, who runs the Post Office and stores with her husband Alan.

"And we've got lots of backing from other businesses, including the Three Counties Showground and Hanley Workshops and smaller businesses in the village.

"We've also got a pond that's kept beautifully which pulls in tourists.

"Five years of effort have finally paid off. To have received this award is just reward for the village's hard work - it goes a long way."