Helston Town Council has made it to the final three in a shortlist to find the best council in the country.

Town clerk Chris Dawson and mayor Gillian Geer, along with their team of councillors and office staff, reached the "long-list" for the Council of the Year Award 2017, run by the National Association of Local Councils, back in September and have now been told they have reached the shortlist.

They are up against Farnham Town Council in Surrey and Halewood Town Council, Merseyside.

The winner will be announced at the NALC Annual Conference on October 30.

Mr Dawson said: "It’s easy for local councils to be criticised, frequently for matters outside of their control, so it is a pleasant change to receive this recognition of the often unseen good work that we are doing."

During the past 12 months Helston Town Council has continued its Helston & the Lizard Works project, which was named runner-up in NALC’s Local Council Project of the Year in 2016. The project, which is run in partnership with Inclusion Cornwall, Active Plus, National Trust and Cornwall College helping people out of work gain skills and work experience to find jobs, is now being replicated elsewhere in the county.

The council has also continued to work alongside other town councils in the area to run the town’s CCTV system and monitoring. This year has been Helston’s turn to chair and provide administration to the management group. As with the jobs programme, this partnership is also regarded as a "best practice" model by Devon and Cornwall Police and its Crime Commissioner, who is encouraging similar schemes elsewhere.

The last 12 months has seen the the council’s Monument Walk project, improving the area around the Grylls Monument, come to fruition and is still working with Cornwall Council to agree the transfer of the freehold of this area to the town.

In December it became the first council in Cornwall to receive Quality Gold status, the highest accreditation possible in the Local Council Award Scheme.

Mayor Mrs Geer said this week: "It is a great pleasure to be part of a council run in such an efficient, productive and, in my opinion, happy way. Well done to everyone."