THE Kent Messenger has won one of the top accolades in the UK newspaper industry for the second year running - the title Weekly Newspaper of the Year in the 2002 Newspaper Awards.

The judges, all top executives from the national and regional world of newspaper publishing and printing, said the paper was again a clear winner.

It had shown incredible growth, with increased pagination and re-designs. And they unanimously concluded it was "packed full of local news, demonstrating a thorough understanding of its area".

The competition is organised by the Newspaper Society's technical newspaper, Production Journal. Kent Messenger senior editor Ron Green collected the trophy at the Dorchester in London last night.

Another Kent Messenger Group weekly paper, the Kentish Gazette, was also among the finalists.

Kent Online, the KM Group's website, was highly commended for Best Weekly Newspaper on the World Wide Web. Judges said it demonstrated an excellent mix of content, revenue-generating additions and clarity.

Production Journal editor and publisher Gary Cullum said the competition's mission was to find the very best the industry had to offer in terms of quality and excellence.

The weekly newspaper entries impressed the judges with their excellent local coverage and production quality which at times rivalled broadsheet newspapers.