THE staff from a West Devon hotel came back from a tourism awards ceremony recently with their arms full of accolades.

The owners of the Horn of Plenty in Gulworthy were delighted to have won awards in three categories of the South West Tourism Excellence Awards 2014-15.

At the awards ceremony, in the Great Hall of the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare, owners Julie Leivers and Damien Pease and their team of dedicated staff were presented with silver in the small hotel of the year award, bronze in the venue and business tourism award and bronze in the Taste of the South West award.

Julie Leivers said: 'We're as proud as punch. It's fantastic to be recognised for the quality of our food, our accommodation and our weddings in these prestigious awards.

'A huge, big thanks to each and every member of our hardworking team.'

This year's South West Tourism Excellence Awards broke the previous record for entries with 425 submissions being considered, each going through a rigorous three-stage judging process and 275 being visited by a team of 35 shoppers.

Chair of the awards judging team Alistair Handyside said: 'The list of winners really does look like a who's who of the best in the industry in the South West. Once again entrants have surpassed themselves in showing that investment, innovation and creativity remain at the heart of the visitor economy in the region.'