Edinburgh's historic Nelson Monument on Calton Hill is in the running for a prestigious award.

The recent Heritage Lottery Fund-supported project to restore the Nelson Monument and its Time Ball is the only Edinburgh contender to have reached the semi-finals of the National Lottery Award.

The news comes just months after the Nelson Monument scooped a four star rating from VisitScotland.

Last summer the monument was reopened to the public following painstaking restoration work lead by the Council, Edinburgh World Heritage and partners as part of the Twelve Monuments Restoration Project.

The National Lottery Awards are an annual search to find the UK's favourite lottery funded projects.

In October 2008 the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a grant of £50,000 towards the repair of our much-loved Calton Hill visitor attraction, the Nelson Monument and its Time Ball. As well as bringing a cherished city landmark back to working order, this funding also enabled a new exhibition to be installed and helped fund storytelling sessions for schools and a public event as part of Doors Open Day in 2009.

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Councillor Deidre Brock, Convenor for Culture & Leisure, urged people to cast their vote in favour of the Nelson Monument.

She said: "It's a huge honour for the Nelson Monument and Time Ball to be the only Edinburgh contender in the running for a National Lottery Award, especially so soon after it received a well-deserved four star rating from VisitScotland.

"Winning the award would be a wonderful tribute to the dedication, hard work and enthusiasm of everyone involved in the Twelve Monuments Restoration Project as well, so please take the time to cast your vote today and help us win this award for Edinburgh!"

Adam Wilkinson, Director of Edinburgh World Heritage, said: "We're delighted The Nelson Monument and Time Ball Project has reached the semi-finals of The National Lottery Awards. Lottery funding has been crucial in the restoration of this Edinburgh landmark and has allowed us to also add an exhibition that tells the bigger story behind the monument. We're really hoping the public gets behind us and votes for us in The National Lottery Awards as it would be great to get national recognition for this important piece of living history."

The Nelson Monument and Time Ball restoration is now one of nine HLF projects shortlisted for the Best Heritage Project Award. The deadline for voting is 12 noon on Friday 18 June 2010, and the final winner will be announced later this summer.

(GK/BMcC)