9 December 2011 Last updated at 06:35 ET

Pendle Council media team wins award for plain English

The four media and public relations staff said they were "committed to communicating clearly"

Members of a communications team from a council in East Lancashire have said they are "chuffed to bits" to win an award for using clear language.

Pendle Borough Council is the only local authority to win an award from the Plain English Campaign.

The award is for its commitment to writing articles and other documents that are clear and easy to understand.

The four media and public relations staff said they were "committed to communicating clearly".

They entered examples of publications to the campaign, including the annual report, a newspaper distributed to local households and an internal newsletter.

'Thumbs up'

Council spokeswoman Claire Tulloch said: "We apply the plain English principles to everything we write.

"This means we avoid jargon, as well as abbreviations and acronyms that aren't commonly known.

"Our main aim is for council documents to be understood the first time people read them.

"They shouldn't have to get out a dictionary to work out what we're saying."

Marie Clair, from the Plain English Campaign, said the council was doing an "excellent job" saying the team had "a real consistency" in the way it worked.

"Their enthusiasm for using clear language really comes over in their publications," she said.

Leader of Pendle Council Mike Blomeley said the award was "a big thumbs up".

The team will receive the award at a ceremony in Liverpool later.