A MONMOUTH bakery has been chosen as one of the best rural retailers in South Wales.

Wigmore's, a family-run business in St Mary's Street, has been voted as one of the four regional finalists for the Countryside Alliance's Best Rural Retailer competition.

Along with rural retailers from Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, they will be battling it out for the South Wales regional title and the chance to go on to win the national award.

The competition received around 600 nominations, from which the South Wales finalists were selected.

Countryside Alliance regional director Adrian Simpson said: "The enthusiasm of customers towards their local retailers is phenomenal and extremely well deserved, especially in the case of our finalists, although we could have had dozens of finalists from the region because the calibre of nominee has been so high.

"Buying local is clearly very important to many, but it is the people who own and work for rural retailers who have created the biggest impression on me.

"The passion of our finalists is clear: they are the unsung heroes of rural enterprise and they are the reason we have run this competition.

Choosing an overall winner is going to be incredibly difficult."

Wigmore's was chosen because of the trace-ability of the ingredients that they use to bake their own bread on the premises.

They were also selected because of the range of 'delicious' bread on offer along with its variety of steak pies and other pastries.

Manager Sharon Watkins said: "It's really good news for us, especially as the competition is open to retailers across South Wales.

"We have sourced a number of good local suppliers in the knowledge that what we use is the best possible ingredients for our products.

"Becoming a finalist is official recognition of the quality produce that we offer in Monmouth."

The regional winner will be announced in early December, with a national winner being named in January 2006.