Stover Country Park are celebrating being officially named among the best parks in the country after receiving this year’s Green Flag Award.

Devon County Council’s two parks are among a record-breaking 2,250 sites in the UK to achieve the award, which is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces.

Meeting the standards for accreditation is testament to the hard work and dedication of the staff and volunteers so that visitors and residents alike can enjoy the parks.

What makes the achievement all the more impressive is that Stover Country Park has now received the Green Flag award for the past 22 years in a row, while the Grand Western Canal Country Park has notched up 17 consecutive years.

Stover Country Park is currently in the final year of its Restoring Stover Park project funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Highways.

The aim of the project is to conserve the important historic landscape of the Grade II Listed Stover Park and Garden, while benefiting the wildlife and visiting public.

Work has been completed on the Stover Centre extension with new public toilets, the new Community Workshop, and the Grade II Listed Gatehouse heritage conservation repairs.

Stover Lake has also been successfully dredged with 14,000m3 of silt removed, and a section of the historic Serpentine Lake has been re-created.

The extensive activity plan of community engagement continues to be delivered with a programme of activities for under-represented groups.

This autumn will see the completion of car park improvements, the creation of two new walking routes along the Serpentine Lake and through neighbouring woodland owned by Sibelco Minerals, the introduction of new information boards, leaflets, signage, a digital app, as well as new education resources for visiting school groups.

This year’s Green Flag judge said: ‘I loved this park and wish I lived closer. It is a great example of a Green Flag Country Park, full of surprises that provided a memorable and stimulating walk.’

Councillor Jacqi Hodgson, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Biodiversity, said: ‘Stover Country Park and the Grand Western Canal Country Park are important habitats for wildlife and are vital for supporting biodiversity, as well as being popular places for people to visit.

‘Having been to both of these public places myself in the last few weeks I can personally vouch for the delight of visiting these important wildlife sanctuaries.

‘Congratulations to both parks for retaining their Green Flags again this year.

‘It highlights the work put in by staff and volunteers to maintain such high standards, and this latest award is recognition of that.’

Councillor Sally Morgan, County Councillor for Bovey Tracey Rural, said: ‘This is a well-deserved award for this popular country park.

‘It is a green jewel in the county’s crown.

‘It is a prime example of what can be achieved through partnership work and a shared vision.

‘The wildlife and birdlife there is exceptional and it is a great educational and environmental resource’.