FOUR businesses from south Shropshire are on the shortlist for an award from the Countryside Alliance.

The Community Shop and Post Office in Lydbury North and Bromfield Post Office in Ludlow will be contesting the village shop/post office category.

At the same time, the Organic Smokehouse in Clunbury and Ludlow Food Centre will fight it out for the rural enterprise award.

“These finalists represent the very best of the region and I know that judging winners in each category is going to be ver y tough,” said Clare Rowson, West Midlands regional director of the Countryside Alliance. “The awards are a great opportunity to celebrate not just the hard work that goes into businesses in the countryside, but also the heart and character of every individual who contributes to rural enterprise.”

Regional winners will be announced before Christmas and will go into a national final early in 2010.