Pilkington: Top marks for Lathom

The award is made by the County Council in conjunction with their annual Best Kept Village contest. Villages which put themselves forward for the main prize can also nominate special features within their boundaries, such as a church or factory, which are then judged individually for one of the category prizes.

The Lathom site's landscaped grounds were viewed from outside by members of the Best Kept Village Committee in the final round of judging. "We don't tour inside unless it is a site which is open to the public," said committee chair Mrs Thirza Ainsworth.

"We were impressed by the Technology Centre. The grounds are very well designed with the buildings barely visible to passers-by."

We are delighted to have received this award", said Dr Don Wilkinson, Pilkington group vice-president for technology.

"We are proud of our site and want the appearance to reflect the fact that we have, today, the leading R&D centre for glass anywhere in the world.

"We are grateful to the County of Lancashire for recognising us in this way and hope in turn that prestige sites like ours can in some way promote Lancashire as a good place to do business."