FRIENDS of Newport Ship are celebrating after winning a top award from travel website TripAdvisor.

The group, which runs the Newport Medieval Ship Project, this week has been awarded the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence.

According to the TripAdvisor website, the award is given to places and attractions that “consistently achieve outstanding traveller reviews” on the website.

The Newport Medieval Ship Project is based in Queensway Meadows Industrial Estate, Newport and offers visitors the chance to see the current state of restoration of the 15th century ship discovered in the River Usk in June 2002.

Phil Cox, chairman of Friends of Newport Ship, said the group was “very pleased” with the news.

“Personally I feel quite elated,” said Mr Cox. “We put in a lot of effort to try and persuade people to give their views of Newport Medieval Ship Project on TripAdvisor.

“We weren’t expecting this result at all and I was surprised when I opened my e-mails this week to discover the news.

“According to the TripAdvisor website we’re usually given either a four or five which is good.”

He added: “Of course we’re very pleased with this award.”

The 64-year-old said news of the award has coincided with the 15th anniversary of the first timbers being discovered.

He said: “It’s very nice that the two things have coincided in the same year. We will be celebrating by continuing to keep the ship open for the whole public.

“Many thanks to all our visitors and supporters who have posted great reviews about their experiences at the ship centre. I hope everybody who comes along will enjoy the tour and recommend us to their friends and write us up on TripAdvisor.”

Rob Kenny, group secretary, said he was “thrilled” and added that the news shows their hard work “has paid off”.

He said: “Well I’m thrilled with the award.There’s a lot of people who do not know of the ship so to get the award is satisfying.

“For years Friends of Newport Ship have been travelling the whole of the country to spread the news of the vessel.

“I think what we can gather from this, is that our hard work of spreading news of the ship has paid off.”

Jean Gray, who is a member of Friends of Newport Ship, believes that the award will help boost tourism to the site.

She said: “We’ve been working for this for 15 years. We have solid local support but we were needing to reach a wider audience.

“It’s fantastic that this has happened and I think more people will now come and visit the site.”

Newport Medieval Ship Project is open every Friday and Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

For more information, visit newportship.org/ or call 01633 274167