HATS off to Hatton after it clinched three awards for the community.

The village walked away with a Little Gem award for its telephone box library at the Community Action Pride Awards.

It was also highly commended in the Community Spirit Award and was runner up in the Best Kept Village Award for villages with a population under 400.

Clr Julian Wrigley, from Hatton Parish Council, said: “We are absolutely delighted, a lot of hard work has gone into the planning.

“We won one award two years ago, two awards last year and three this year. Next year the aim is to get best kept village for under 400 residents.”

The annual awards were entered by the parish council on behalf of the village and judges arrived to see Hatton themselves earlier in the year.

And they were very impressed with the telephone box library.

“They considered it to be a very novel item,” added Clr Wrigley. “It’s an eye-catching feature of the village. Two years ago the parish council was offered the telephone box from BT for £1 and converted it into a library which is effectively a paperback borrowing facility. The community support we have had has been fantastic.”

Clr Paul Kennedy (CON – Hatton, Walton and Stretton) added: “My congratulations go to Hatton.

“It’s a great idea and it’s very innovative. It’s credit to the parish council and the villagers who have made this a success.”