It's official: Telford Town Park is voted best in the UK

It was up against about 20 other parks from across the country for the top accolade – including the Quarry in Shrewsbury.

People were urged to vote for their favourite beauty spots and the awards ceremony took place on Wednesday evening at Lord's Cricket Ground in London.

The Fields in Trust Awards have been running since 2012 and celebrate the contributions and achievements of partner parks, recognising and rewarding the efforts of those who work on them to make them the best they can be.

It comes after Telford Town Park won an award as part of the Keep Britain Tidy campaign and was also handed the Green Flag Award earlier this year.

Councillor Liz Clare, Telford & Wrekin Council's cabinet member for leisure services and culture, said: "We're obviously delighted that our beautiful park has won such a prestigious national award in spite of extremely stiff competition.

"But I have to say I am not the least bit surprised. I've always said our Town Park is one of the jewels in Telford's crown and it is great to have it confirmed on a national stage.

"We're very proud of Telford Town Park and how much it has developed over the past few years.

"We have so much green space in Telford and Wrekin and Telford Town Park has more than 180 hectares of space.

"The staff work so hard to maintain the facilities for members of the public to enjoy."

The park is owned by Telford & Wrekin Council and was nominated for the award by a member of the Friends of Telford Town Park, a group which started in 2003 to help give the park extra care and attention.

Friends of Telford Town Park nominated it because of the range of attractions including new features like the water play, high ropes course and adventure golf.

The Telford Town Park Arena is protected by Fields In Trust as a Queen Elizabeth II Field and is the focal point for a variety of community and business events.

There were 122 parks nominated nationwide and 8,000 public votes cast.

It is the first time Fields In Trust have given out awards based on people's votes.

Fields in Trust is a national charity which works to safeguard parks and campaign for better protection of green spaces against developers of green spaces.

Residents and visitors can share their favourite photos of Telford Town Park on Twitter @TelfordTownPark #loveparks