STAFF at a family run garage are celebrating after it was named one of the best in the country.

Customers of Clive Woolford Motor Engineers have voted it into the top five in the South West and it is now vying to be named the best in the UK.

Regulars of the Tewkesbury garage took part in a competition run by Motor Codes, a national motoring watchdog.

Ian and Sue Boskett have owned the business for three years and Ian has been there for 33 years after beginning as founder Clive Woolford's apprentice. He said: "I'm just pleased that our hard work has paid off. We pride ourselves in giving the old-fashioned kind of customer service. I know the technology in cars has moved on but you've still got to treat customers the right way."

The pair are part of an eight-strong team that has 95 years of experience in the trade between them.

They carry out servicing and MOT tests on the Cotteswold Dairy Site, which forms part of the Newtown Trading Estate.

Sue said Motor Codes had not revealed how many customers voted, but she said: "It's brilliant. Some of our customers have emailed their responses to us and they have been lovely. I've been putting them up on the wall in the tea room to give the lads a boost."

She said treating customers fairly was a top priority for the company.

She said: "It's very much a family atmosphere. Our customers are our friends really."

An example of the garage's willingness to help the community is that it services The Roses theatre's support vehicle each year for free.

Motor Codes operates a self regulatory code of practice for garages across the country.

Customers voted online, at www.goldengarages.co.uk. Anyone who wants to help the garage get to the next stage of the competition has until March 24 to do so. If it comes first in the region, it will win £1,000 worth of prizes and if it becomes the national winner, it will receive prizes worth more than £5,000. The national winner will be announced on April 6.