HERITAGE volunteers have thanked the Facebook fans who helped win them an award.

Last month the Railway Village was named England's favourite conservation area by heritage group Civic Voice after the historic Swindon area won 3,459 online votes.

Showing-off the award at Swindon Civic Voice’s annual general meeting, the group thanked all those who helped win the accolade for the 150-year-old Railway Village. The town heritage group’s Angela Atkinson said: “The final push came with the help of everybody on social media. We thought it would be nice to say a little thank you. I couldn’t have done it on my own, nagging everyone for seven days.”

Debra Collins, who runs the Swindon Community Notice Board Facebook page, encouraged the members of the group to vote for the Railway Village: “It was amazing just to be a part of it. It was about time for Swindon. I moved to the town three-and-a-half years ago. There was always a negative attitude about Swindon, but I love it. It’s a great place and people don’t really know what they’ve got here.”