A CLUTCH of local businesses are celebrating after winning in the Heart of England Excellence in Tourism Awards.

Herefordshire and Worcestershire businesses shone in the awards, which cover an area comprising 12 counties, generating £5bn in tourism revenue.

Joy was more heartfelt than usual as winners acknowledged it had been an extremely tough year for tourism, due mainly to the foot-and-mouth epidemic.

The title of Hotel of the Year in the under-60 bedrooms category went to the Castle House Hotel in Hereford, which opened in November 1999, and is part of the new Left Bank Village on the River Wye.

"It's always nice to win in local awards because a lot of our business comes locally," said Left Bank Village general manager, Jamie Alexander.

"We try and employ local people and we're very conscious of the impact our business has on the local economy."

Wood Norton Hall, near Evesham, received a Highly Commended in the small hotels category.

The 45-bedroom, four-star country hotel, which is owned by the BBC, was the overall winner last year.

"It has been a really hard season for everybody in the industry and to get a pat on the back from the Heart of England Tourist Board was wonderful - we're thrilled to bits," said business development manager, Julie Timms.

Meanwhile, the Riseling - a self-contained cottage on a property at Stanford Bridge, near Worcester - received a Highly Commended in the self-catering holiday category.

And a Herefordshire cycling and walking holiday company received a Commended in the Green Tourism category.

Wheely Wonderful Cycling, owned by Kay and Chris Dartnell, has been operating for 10 years in Wigmore, near Leominster.

The company, which supports sustainable tourism and also recyles as much of its waste as possible, has suffered a "dramatic decline" in turnover during the past year due to foot-and-mouth.

Strangely, however, it was the outbreak that prompted the couple to enter their business in the awards.

"We sat down in February and we'd just had all the dreadful news about foot-and-mouth and we'd had to cancel lots of our walking holidays and we were feeling really glum," said Mrs Dartnell.

"We thought, what can we do that's positive, and we decided to enter the Heart of England Tourism Awards. The award has been a really big boost. It's a great acknowledgement of the fact we've been trying very hard for a long time now."