An entire village has been awarded a Good Neighbour award, having come to the rescue of a couple who had suffered medical emergencies weeks before Christmas.

Ruth Warner fractured her ankle in December, a day after her husband Peter had a heart attack.

Residents of Upton-with-Fishley took it in turns to walk the Warner's dog twice a day, as well as taking them to appointments, collecting their medication, and putting up their Christmas decorations.

The community owned pub in the village even took the Warners fish and chips on Friday nights.

Mrs Warner, 73, said: 'I was walking around on my ankle for a few days before I mentioned it to my neighbours, and they took me to the hospital straight away. Different groups of neighbours offered help and gradually we accepted.

'We have children but they don't live in the county, and because of that they're not around for the nitty gritty jobs.'

Mrs Warner, who worked as a staff nurse, said: 'It was just such a lovely feeling at Christmas, I can't thank them enough. I called the people who organised the awards, and when they asked me which neighbour should win I just couldn't pick, so the whole village won.'

The community chose to reinvest their prize of £100 into the village, and so bought an owl box for the area.

Mrs Warner said: 'Since the pub was bought by the community the village has changed so much, because we all feel like shareholders. A building which used to be part of the pub has also now been turned into a tiny community shop, run entirely by volunteers. It's just such a lovely place to live.'

The good neighbour awards are organised by Nextdoor, a social media app which aims to bring neighbours together to build stronger and safer communities.

Nick Lisher, UK country manager for Nextdoor, said: 'Last year, we discovered that only one third of Brits know their neighbours. We brought our Our Good Neighbour Awards to the UK this year to celebrate the people who are changing lives in their communities and to champion good neighbours.'