IT'S official – Eastington is the most vibrant village in Gloucestershire.

The village was described as a model community determined to preserve its rural identity.

Competition judges from Gloucestershire Vibrant Village of the Year 2010 praised the Keep Eastington Rural group for defeating plans for major housing and commercial developments they felt would ruin the village.

And, thanks to volunteers, fundraising and grants, the tiny village hall has been refurbished incorporating green technology.

Pressure from the community led to the parish council buying land for allotments.

"This village deserves the accolade of Vibrant Village due to the proactive attitude of the parish council, organisations and residents," said the judges at the awards ceremony in the Painswick Centre.

"Their determination to succeed and positive engagement show a model aspiration to win."

Eastington parish councillor Bill Edwards said: "There is a strong community spirit in Eastington. There is a lot going on and the allotments have been a huge success."

There was a record entry of 24 villages in this year's competition organised by Gloucestershire Rural Community Council.

Its chief executive Lesley Archer said: "We were delighted to see such a significant increase in entry forms this year and the standard has been very high.

"The awards ceremony is a celebration of all the wonderful projects and initiatives going on around our county, giving other communities an opportunity to learn from them."

The other sponsors were The Honourable Company of Gloucestershire, NHS Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire Safer and Stronger Communities Partnership.

In other categories, the Best Community Project/Initiative went to Horsley.

The Stroud District Council award for Best Newcomer went to Kingswood near Wotton-under-Edge and Painswick received a participation certificate.