A TOURISM leader in Chipping Norton hopes that efforts to bring the community together will see it named the best market town in the country.

Chippy took silver in last year’s Great British High Street Awards and Shaun Fagan, chairman of tourism group Experience Chipping Norton, says he’s "quietly confident" about the town’s chances this year.

A shortlist of a maximum of three finalists for each award category – including small market town, village and rising star – will be revealed in mid-October.

Mr Fagan said that the competition has been a great means of putting Chippy on the map, and that his work with ECN is about reaching that very same goal.

He said: "It’s all about raising the town’s status as somewhere you would want to visit for the weekend or live or start a business.

"We don’t suffer from a lot of the tourism that comes into the Cotswolds and think that would be a great thing to suffer from.

"There’s a real sense of community here, whether it’s people that live here or have come from elsewhere in the country or world. A lot of people want to put something back, so it’s been very easy to get people to come forward and get involved with what we’ve been doing."

One of the main things ECN has tried to do since it started three years ago is bolster the sense of community in the town through the use of technology.

Mr Fagan said that, through widening the reach of community involvement via its website and social media, town projects are not left limited to churches, schools, or charities, but can involve everyone – a touch he believes gives Chippy a real fighting chance in this year's awards.

This year’s competition is hotter than ever, with 900 entrants competing in the market town category, but a new divide between small and large market town could prove beneficial.

Chipping Norton was made a finalist in the market town category of the competition last year, beating 200 other entrants, but was just pipped at the post by Helmsley in Yorkshire.

The deadline for entries – which consist of a thousand word essay on community activities and projects – was on September 9, and now all residents of Chippy can do is wait to hear how they've done.

Mr Fagan said: "We’re all just waiting with bated breath now. If we get through to the final three again we’ll go all guns blazing."

If Chippy makes it to the shortlist a judge will visit the town in November before arriving at the final decision.