HELPFUL Holidays in Chagford has been awarded first place in a top national consumer magazine survey.

The customer satisfaction survey was carried out by the influential Which? magazine.

Helpful Holidays has been awarded first place in the Which? Travel magazine member survey of holiday cottage and villa booking companies, achieving a score of 92% and getting five out of five stars in all but one category.

To find the best self-catering cottage or villa booking company, Which? members were asked to rate any that they had used in the past two years on everything from customer service to value for money.

The panel of 2,678 members who booked a holiday cottage/villa named over 400 different agencies and listings websites.

Helpful Holidays achieved the highest score, impressing members with its five star customer service, information and comprehensive range of properties.

Helpful Holidays has more than 600 places to stay in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset, ranging from romantic retreats for two to big country houses.

Moray Bowater, general manager of Helpful Holidays, said: 'Which? is the UK's pre-eminent and most trustworthy barometer of consumer attitudes and opinions.

'We couldn't be more delighted to get this feedback from them.

'The values of honesty, integrity and attention to detail that Helpful Holidays puts into practice every day are recognised and appreciated by our customers in this report.

'Ultimately, trust is the currency that really counts and earning that of our customers has been the purpose of Helpful Holidays for the last 30 years.

'This endorsement will spur us on to continue to do more for our customers.'