A village shop has been shortlisted for an honour in the East of England’s Countryside Alliance Awards.

Perry Stores, in Chichester Way, Perry, is in the running in the award’s village shop and post office category, in which it will vie with three other stores for a chance to win the regional prize.

The awards are the Countryside Alliance’s annual celebration of rural produce, skills, enterprise and heritage through small businesses.

They are now in their 12th year and, this year, more than 7,500 nominations were received across five categories: local food and drink; village shop or post office; tourism enterprise; farm enterprise; and butcher.

Also in the running in the village shop category are Sarratt Post Office Stores, of Hertfordshire, Leadenham Post Office and Teahouse, of Lincolnshire, and The Udder Room and Post Office, of Suffolk.

Countryside Alliance awards director, Jill Grieve, said: “This has been a record year for nominations, showing how much the public values and supports our hard working rural businessmen and women.

“For these finalists to get this far is already an exceptional achievement and I look forward to meeting them as judging gets underway. The Rural Oscars were set up to champion those who go the extra mile for their communities and it is an honour to offer a voice to rural business in this way.”

Each business will receive a visit from judges, with the regional winners announced in February. They will then advance to the national finals, taking place in March.