Manchester's new website www.manchester.gov.uk has been voted as the best local government website in the nation, by thousands of visitors of internet users.

The website received this recognition in a poll ran over the last three months and was conducted by BT Total Broadband, offering surfers an opportunity to vote in a total of 17 categories.

Among these categories, the local government category is one and Manchester secured the top position leaving behind others including Camden, Glasgow, Hounslow and Blackburn.

Head of online channel development at BT, Matt Walton, said, "With the BT Online Excellence Awards, we've given consumers the opportunity to recognise the websites they regularly use - whether that's for shopping, entertaining the kids or getting information from their local authority.

That's where they're different: we weren't interested in the technical aspects of the sites - just why users like them. As we suspected, the range of products or information available was the most important factor, followed by how easy it was to use".

Councillor Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council,, said, "Our website combines a good mix of news and information with a range of services that people can access and order online. We use our website as one of the vital channels to make contact with and to hear from our communities, so we are delighted to receive this award. However we don't want to stand still; we want to carry on improving so please do log on to let us know your views".

Visit www.bt.com/onlineexcellence to know more about the BT Online Excellence Awards and the results.