Brentwood's retailers are being highly praised for their Christmas shop windows.

The acclaim comes from judges of a 'Promote the Town' competition who are due to make their formal presentation of trophies and champagne to the winners today(Thursday).

The judges were asked to award points on the basis of originality and a display's relevance to the Christmas season.

Said one of them, chairman of the Town Partnership Michael Coates: "We would have liked to award prizes to every participating shop and business.

"There were just so many excellent displays."

Special praise, and a special non-category prize, was directed at those involved in creating the Father Christmas grotto at Chapel High Precinct.

Joining Mr Coates as judges were Dorothy Denton, chairman of the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce, Brentwood Mayor Cllr David Minns, and Roy Dyer, of Brentwood Events.

Category winners are:

Small Shops and Special Businesses

Neil Graham Gallery, Ingrave Road. Lance James Jewellers (Crown Street), Review Hairdressing (High Street) and Bagels and Beyond (Ingrave Road) were highly commended.

Large Shops, Banks, Building Societies and Multiples

Ottakar's Book Shop in the High Street. Marks & Spencer, Clement Joscelyne and Early Learning were highly commended.

Pubs and Restaurants

Cafe Rouge. Burger King and Pizza Hut were highly commended.

Other Premises

Children's Society in the High Street. Broad Oak Centre in Ongar Road, Saint Francis Hospice (High Street) and Help for Arthritis (Ongar Road) were highly commended.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.