Staff at a Furness candle shop were celebrating in 2002 after being named top workplace visitor attraction in England.

The Colony Country Store in Lindal notched up 260,000 visitors in 2000, making it top in its category in England, according to figures from the English Tourism Council.

The figure was an estimated one using data from sales in the shop, which sold a wide range of scented candles and other items like pot pouri.

Glass corridors in parts of the shop allowed visitors to watch when handmade style candle making was in progress in the candle factory.

Retail sales manager for Colony Gift Corporation Belinda Smith said: "We have a very heavy footfall for a small site."

Colony had worked with Furness Tourism Partnership to promote the store, which had opened 10 years previously.

Mrs Smith said: "We are absolutely delighted to be top and we are hoping it will continue."

The complex included a café called Chandlers owned by site landlord, farmer Dave Rawlinson, which had had Egon Ronay recommendations.

An unusual attraction was the all-year Santa's grotto, an American idea which had caught on at Lindal, where it was constantly popular with visiting children.

Mrs Smith said: "This is an unknown area really but there are a lot of things here for people to see.

"In tourism I thing shopping is the top favourite activity when people are on holiday.

"The store has a very loyal local custom but it also draws tourists from the Lakes.

"It helps to form a visitor package with other attractions like Furness Abbey, the Dock Museum and shopping in Barrow.

"It also draws people to attractions like the Ulverston Glass Centre in Ulverston and the South Lakes Wild Animal Park in Dalton. We are committed to the local community who have been really good to us."

The Colony Country Store had around 10 coach trips a week in the summer.

Colony planned new attractions at the shop, including a series of information boards about the history of candle making, which stretches back to Egyptian times.

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