Five months after opening to the public, Stanley Mills has been declared a five-star attraction.

The 18th century water mill complex beside the River Tay, near Perth, has also beaten its visitor number targets for the whole season.

Independent quality assurance inspectors from VisitScotland examined every aspect of the visitor centre, from presentation and retail quality right to the cleanliness of the loos.

Afterwards they declared it to be world class and awarded the coveted five stars which show potential visitors that they can expect a great day out

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Kay Finlay, Historic Scotland monument manager, said: "We are delighted at the news, especially as we have only been open such a short time.

"What makes it even better is that our latest figures show we have already beaten our target for visitor numbers with two and a half months go before the season ends.

"A lot of care has gone into making sure that Stanley Mills is a really enjoyable place to come and the staff take a great deal of pride in making sure that everyone has a warm welcome.

"Children particularly like the interactive displays and especially the water wheels, which give them the chance to see water power in action.

"A lot of the mums who come along have commented on how much they like the audio recordings in the spinning rooms where they can hear about the lives of workers from the past. And we also notice that dads often spend quite a bit of time looking at some of the amazing machinery we have on display."

Despite a challenging season for much of the Scottish tourism industry, Stanley Mills had attracted 18,101 visitors by 17, August. Its target was 18,000 by 31, October.

(GK/NS)