by business editor Trevor Sturgess

The Prime Minister has praised the winners of a newspaper campaign to boost business growth.

David Cameron hailed the Newspaper Society's second Local Business Accelerators campaign - backed by the KM Group - as a phenomenal success.

More than 500 newspapers have taken part in the scheme, which is supported by the Government and the Business in You campaign.

LBA rewards firms with growth potential with free advertising, expert mentoring and a possible date with Dragons' Den star Deborah Meaden, the LBA ambassador, as well as other prizes worth more than £10,000. Last year's winner Ilkley Brewery has been advised by Ms Meaden and seen sales leap 140%.

Three Kent winners have already been announced - Bertie's Wood Fuel, FooARage and Milk Chic/Armed and Glamorous.

The winning trio will shortly receive free mentoring by experts at Reeves, the accounting and business advisory firm in Canterbury and Chatham Maritime.

Mr Cameron said: "Last year's Local Business Accelerators campaign was a phenomenal success and showed what a huge range of strong, growing businesses there are across the country. It is a huge credit to the papers taking part that they are offering real support to their local businesses. They play a vital role in local communities and are uniquely placed to boost their local economy in this way.

"Last year's national winner Ilkley Brewery has gone from strength to strength, growing its sales by 140% and I hope this year's winners will go on to enjoy similar success. I would like to congratulate all the local winners and wish them all the best for the national final."

Hadlow-based Bertie's, founded by Peter Tweddell, supplies high quality wood fuel, kiln dried and seasoned logs, kindling and wood briquettes, for open fires, stoves and log burners.

FooARage, a skateboard academy founded by Nicola Lewis and based in Larkfield, is a community interest company that helps young people, many disengaged from society, to take a new view on life by designing and building a skateboard or longboard. It also supports skate venues such as Cyclopark, Gravesend.

Melanie Brooks, from Maidstone, promotes fashion for breast-feeding mothers through her MilkChic business, and sleeved garments via her Armed and Glamorous enterprise.

Deborah Meaden, the campaign’s national ambassador, said: "I would like to congratulate the winners of this year's Local Business Accelerators who should all feel extremely proud to have got this far in the competition.

"The first LBA created hundreds of business success stories across the UK and I am confident that we will see hundreds more again this year, as the winners receive the campaign prize of free local newspaper advertising and mentoring. We need to do everything we can to support small business owners and entrepreneurs and LBA is helping to do just that."

Tim Levey, a partner with Reeves and one of the Kent judges, said: "Overall the three winners are as strong as those that we picked last year and once again they come from a diverse range of backgrounds."