Holt was among the towns praised for their cleanliness in an awards scheme. PHOTO: ANTONY KELLY

North Norfolk’s towns have been praised after the local council was handed a five star award in the 2012 Clean Britain Awards.

Anonymous inspections assessed criteria including general litter, chewing gum and smoking-related litter, fly-tipping, graffiti and the provision and condition of litter bins.

Areas inspected included Fakenham town centre, high school and college and Wells Road; Holt High Street and Country Park; Sheringham High Street, sea front and train station; Cromer sea front, promenade and Cromwell Road; and North Walsham High Street and Market Place. Comments included:

“Holt could hardly be faulted with near perfect scores in the town centre and 100pc in Holt Country Park”; “Cromer promenade was amazing given the high volume of people there in high season”; The area round Sheringham Station was “an extremely clean, pleasant and tidy entrance to the town”; North Walsham was praised for its “nice tidy town centre”, and Fakenham was described as “an extremely well kept and tidy town”.

The awards are run by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM).