Ashby has celebrated achieving Purple Flag status for the sixth year running.

The award is given to towns which are proactive in terms of promoting its night time economy.

Often, the accolade is awarded to cities and much larger towns, but Ashby has consistently proved that it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath.

Representatives of Ashby de la Zouch Town Council received the Purple Flag at an awards ceremony in Nottingham last month.

And members of the town's Pubwatch group showed it off at Legion House this week.

The council's Town Centre Manager, Stuart Benson, told Ashby Nub News: "Purple Flag's about raising the standards in the town centre, making sure that there are no dark areas that there's CCTV, things like that. 

Members of Ashby's Pubwatch group with the Town Council's events committee chairman, Cllr Murrae Blair Park, and Town Centre Manager, Stuart Benson

"But it's also looking at ways that we can improve the town centre during the night time economy, and the full experience that it gives. So it's not just about the pubs. 

"It's about sports that you can do at night time. The Venture Theatre, the Lyric Rooms.

"Plus anything that's going on at the Leisure Centre such as boxing nights.

"But it's also for all age ranges and the whole package that the town has to offer."

Stuart explained that the Purple Flag is not handed out lightly and towns must meet several criteria.

He added: "There's a raft of things that you have to go through. The criteria is quite hefty, we have to produce a 20 page document. But I'm always gathering evidence all the time. So, when new things have come up, like the BID Rangers that have come in just recently, that's really going to add weight to our next submission.

Photo: Ashby de la Zouch Town Council

"You get graded in each category, it's quite robust, then the assessors come in and do an overnight assessment to see for themselves.

"Because it's all well and good reading it on a piece of paper, but you actually have to experience the town as an outsider.

"That's quite vital, because then they're getting their own sense of what it looks like.

"We might underscore ourselves because we're probably a bit harder on ourselves. 

"So you really have to earn the Purple Flag, and demonstrate that you're making a positive impact. The general public don't necessarily see all the little bits and pieces that have been done in the background to make this achievable. But it's remarkable because there aren't that many local towns and cities that have got this.

Photo: Ashby de la Zouch Town Council

"To get this achievement is phenomenal, and to keep getting recognised. We've got to be doing something right. You're never gonna please everybody, but it's moving in the right direction. We wouldn't keep getting accredited if we weren't doing those things."

Stuart explained the work of Pubwatch, a group of landlords and managers representing the town's bars.

He added: "It's getting all the venues to support the accreditation, making sure that they're doing everything that they can do in their powers to run a safe premises. 

"They need all the correct paperwork up, plus they've been running safety campaigns such as Ask Angela.

"It's vital to have this group feeding into the Purple Flag steering group, because they're the guys that are on the ground. They're the night time economy, they're running the place, but they need the support as well. Or they could bring the problems straight to us.

"So if, if anything gets highlighted, we can then sort of action these and get them dealt with and say, Well, look, do we need to put any new policies in place to help safeguard against any issues in the future?"