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Top award for Observer

29/11/2004

THE Accrington Observer came away with a top prize from a prestigious awards ceremony on Friday.

The Observer had received nominations in four different categories at the Guardian Media Group Regional Press Awards, which were held at the City of Manchester Stadium.

The Accrington Exiles section of the Observer's website, which allows expats from the town to write in and get in touch with their hometown, triumphed and won the award for Best Use of Community Websites.

Observer editor Mervyn Kay said: "This section is a groundbreaking way for ex-Accrington people to keep in touch with the town and with former friends and workmates. It has been a remarkable success and we hope that more and more people with use it to track down long-lost friends and relatives, or just to let people back home know what they are up to in their new life aborad."

You can see for yourself what the fuss is about - click here to visit Accrington Exiles.

The Observer was nominated for three other awards:

• Reporters Jonathon Dillon and Michelle McKenna were commended in the Scoop of the Year section for their investigation into a charity worker.
• The Observer received a commendation in the Best News Pages category - awarded to the paper whose pages have the best combination of good presentation and top-quality content.
• And our own website, www.accringtonobserver.co.uk, was commended in the Best Weekly Newspaper Website category, for its mix of news, sport, information and interactivity with readers.