Watford Borough Council has been shortlisted for local authority of the year.

The council has been recognised ahead of this year's Municipal Journal Local Government Achievement Awards (MJ awards).

The council is a finalist in both the ‘Best Commercial Council of the Year’ and the ‘Local Authority of the Year’ categories. The commercial award recognises new commercial arrangements that have demonstrated innovation in the use of council services and assets.

The local authority of the year award highlights success right across the organisation.

Each category is judged by experienced and influential people from both the private and public sector. Watford has had to illustrate its ability, ingenuity and performance to make it through to the final stages.

Watford is the only district council amongst the finalists in the local authority of the year award. It will be up against Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Cheshire West & Chester Council, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Luton Borough Council, and Salford City Council.

Watford Borough Council managing director, Manny Lewis, said: “It is great that Watford has received this national recognition, which is a reflection of the success of the town and the hard work and dedication of all our staff."

The MJ Awards have been held every year since 2004 and is one of the major events within the public sector calendar.

All finalists can be found at: https://awards.themj.co.uk/finalists

The winners will be announced on June 27 2018.