THE historic Royal Gunpowder Mills and the work done by the Town Partnership have been nominated for four categories in Essex's tourism awards.

The Gunpowder Mills in Beaulieu Drive has beaten off stiff competition to make it into the finals of the best small Essex attraction.

One of its volunteer guides, Len Stuart, has also been nominated for the outstanding customer service award.

The mills produced gunpowder for the British Army and Royal Navy, from the sixteenth century. It was taken over as a research and development base before it closed in 1991.

It was reopened as a historical tourist attraction in 2001 and it now attracts about 25,000 visitors annually.

Meanwhile there was praise for the work of the Town Partnership, which has been nominated in both the best tourism experience, and the leisure and recreation categories.

The partnership encourages visitors to make the most of the historic town, organising a regular ‘breakfast for business’, town centre clean-ups and produces a tourist site map of the Abbey.

Chairwoman Norma Green said she was 'delighted' with the nominations.

She said: "We're not a tourist attraction as such, but we do try to improve tourism for local businesses and the experience of visitors to our town.

"We're thrilled that our hard work has been acknowledged."

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in September.

The awards are sponsored by the County Council's tourism arm, Visit Essex.

A Visit Essex spokesman said: "We're very pleased to be sponsoring the Essex Tourism Awards as we see them as a good opportunity to showcase Essex as a destination and what it has to offer.

"We feel that the awards can act as a tool to challenge negative perceptions of the county, and position Essex higher in the minds of people when choosing a destination.

"The awards will help to encourage outstanding quality and reward those businesses who are passionate about the county and its tourism offer."