EIGHT villages will be contesting the Calor Gas Devon Village of the Year competition including Merton, which was pipped at the post last year by Halwill.
Due to the effects of foot and mouth disease, the competition, organised by the Community Council of Devon in partnership with the CPRE (Council for Protection of Rural England), is suffering from an abnormally low number of entries this year.
Rosalyn Kriteman from the Devon CPRE said: 'We know that many villages which would otherwise have entered have not been able to and we fully understand why.
'We are just glad that we have an event, for the support of the eight villages and we hope to welcome the others back next year.'
In view of this situation it has been decided to just have one round of judging and all villages will be visited in late August.
Last year, Merton was one of the three finalists for the award which recognises community spirit and achievements.
Halwill's victory in the 2000 Village of the Year Competition was due to the way the community had worked together to raise funds and re-open the old Winsford Hospital as a community resource centre after it was closed by the health authority and put on the market.
The winner will go forward to represent the county in the Calor Gas/Daily Telegraph Village of the Year Competition for England and Wales which this year will be contested by more than 40 villages.