WINCHESTER'S Tourist Information Centre has been voted the best in the UK after a "mystery shopper" campaign by national body VisitBritain.

Staff from the group send in e-mail and telephone requests to all 474 tourist information centres across Britain during August - their busiest month.

Experts from VisitBritain evaluated each response in terms of speed of reply, writing style, detail and enthusiasm with Winchester scoring an average of 90 per cent compared to the UK average of just 27 per cent.

Regional responses were also considered in the campaign, with the south east region coming third overall.

The Winchester Tourist Information Centre, based at the city's Guildhall, handles more than 230,000 enquiries a year and was also named the Tourist Information Centre of the Year at the National Enjoy England Awards for Excellence.