DUDLEY Canal and Tunnel Trust has won a special national tourism award for the way it engages its visitors – for the third year running.

The Trust – which runs the canal tunnel and limestone mines attraction – has again won a ‘Best Told Story’ honour in VisitEngland’s ‘Attractions Accolades’.

The awards celebrate excellence within the visitor attraction industry, with the Canal and Tunnel Trust one of 76 organisations recognised across the country.

The attractions are judged on the outstanding experiences they provide, highlighting all aspects of the visitor experience from story-telling to food and drink and customer service.

A wide range of tourism experiences are eligible for the awards including museums and galleries, farm attractions, historic houses and gardens as well as churches, cathedrals and country parks.

The Trust, based on Birmingham New Road, was created to protect and preserve Dudley’s historic tunnel network.

It also runs regular guided boat trips through the tunnels, lifelike reconstructions and stunning music and light shows, attracting more than 80,000 visitors a year.

The trust’s chief executive officer Traci Dix-Williams said: “This is the third year on the trot we’ve won this award which is amazing and we are really pleased.

“I think it comes down to the fact we take people into an environment they don’t normally see and it creates a sense of another time and place.

“I think our success comes from the fact that there are so many stories associated with this area.”