Top restaurant award for hotel SUMMER LODGE at Evershot flew the flag for west Dorset at the county's annual business awards last night.

It won the Dorset Restaurant of the Year award, sponsored by Poole Audi, at the Dorset Business Awards.

A record number of 650 guests attended the gala dinner and ceremony, hosted by the BBC's Sally Taylor at the Bournemouth International Centre.

Summer Lodge was one of 11 category winners.

Peter Scott, chief executive of Dorset Business (the Chamber of Commerce & Industry, which organised the awards on behalf of the sponsors), said: "We have been absolutely delighted with the response to the 2007 Dorset Business Awards, and we congratulate all our winners and finalists.

"Our judges faced an extraordinarily difficult task in choosing the winning companies given the quality and quantity of entries we received. The awards night was a tremendous success."

Other winners included J & G Environmental Ltd, of Blandford Forum, which scooped the Environmental Excellence award, sponsored by BP.

DCRS Construction Ltd, near Blandford, took the Sustainable Building Award, sponsored by Dorset Business (the Chamber of Commerce & Industry) and PH Warr plc.

Kondor, Wimborne, claimed the KPMG Company of the Year award.

ROLL OF HONOUR

  • Creative Project of the Year award, sponsored by The Arts Institute at Bournemouth and Liz Lean PR: Mollie Regan Textiles in Poole.
  • Dorset Restaurant of the Year award, sponsored by Poole Audi: Summer Lodge, Evershot.
  • Environmental Excellence award, sponsored by BP: J & G Environmental Ltd, Bland-ford Forum.
  • Family Business of the Year award, sponsored by Prince-croft Willis: C G Pitcher & Son Limited in Wimborne.
  • Innovation award, sponsored by Bournemouth University and the Institute of Directors: SELEX Communications in Christchurch.
  • KPMG Company of the Year award: Kondor, Wimborne.
  • Linking with Schools award, sponsored by The Borough of Poole, Bournemouth Borough Council and Dorset County Council: Bournemouth High-cliff Marriott Hotel.
  • RBS Best Management Team award: Julia's House in Poole
  • Supporting the Community award, sponsored by JP Morgan: Rok in Poole.
  • Sustainable Building award, sponsored by Dorset Business (the Chamber of Commerce & Industry) and PH Warr plc: DCRS Construction Ltd.