THREE East Cornwall attractions have been honoured in the tenth annual Cornwall Tourism Awards.

The gold award for the large visitor attraction of the year went to the National Trust's Cotehele estate. Pentillie Castle near St Mellion took gold in the bed and breakfast and guest accommodation of the year and St Mellion International Resort won a gold for large hotel of the year and a bronze for best tourism activity, sport and experience of the year.

The awards, which are organised by VisitCornwall, recognise and reward the best in tourism across 16 categories.

Presenting this year's awards was Sue Perkins who is well known for her quick wit and humour on radio and TV, and who recently co-hosted the Great British Bake-Off. Sue is no stranger to Cornwall – she has long been a fan of the county and currently lives in Penzance.

The awards follow hot on the heels of the 2011 British Travel Awards where Cornwall won gold in three categories. The Eden Project won 'Best UK Leisure Attraction', St Ives won 'Best UK Seaside Town' and Cornwall won 'Best UK Holiday County or Region'.

All of the Cornwall Tourism Awards winners will now go on to represent the county in the South West Regional Awards and ultimately the National Excellence Awards which take place next year.