HARD-WORKING volunteers are celebrating a seaside town’s revival as a “desirable” place to live.

Volunteers at the Walton Forum have long fought to help the resort recapture its heyday, bidding for cash to regenerate rundown areas and promote tourist opportunities.

Roger Evans, chairman of the forum, was pleased to spot the town feature in the Guardian’s weekend supplement, listed as a town to consider moving to.

He said: “It was great to see Walton featured in last weekend’s Guardian in the regular ‘Lets move to’ feature.

“The Walton Forum has been in existence for nearly 25 years as a group of dozens of unpaid volunteers dedicated to the social and economic regeneration of the town.

“During that time we have successfully bid for over £1million of grant funding which has levered in a further £1million all of which has been spent on improving the town’s infrastructure and amenities as well as providing our information and support centre on the corner of Mill Lane since 2003.

“We have continuously banged the drum for the town and lobbied for its recognition and potential as a great place to live and to visit and it is fantastic to see it recognised in a national newspaper.

“A big thank you to all our members and past members and supporters who have put in so much time and effort to bring this about.”

The feature, written by the Guardian’s Tom Dyckhoff, highlights Walton’s famous Naze cliffs, fantastic fossil finds and seals, beach huts, seafront shelters, as well as well-connected trains to Colchester and good schools, including Walton Primary and Tendring Technology College.

The best “hang out” spots were Hipkins tearoom and the Round Table restaurant.

He said: “It’s a lovely, jovial spot, with the air of a seafaring community that has seen off the sea for centuries.

“It’s the unpretentious twin to hoity Frinton next door, all bric-a-brac shops, caffs and purveyors of buckets and spades.”

Readers were advised that the streetscape is “very random” with 20s semis and 19th-century fishermen’s terraces cheek-by-jowl with Regency townhouses and modern villas.

Homes around the Naze in Hall Lane, Cliff Parade and Old Hall were listed as the “poshest” while the townhouses in East Terrace are labelled as “handsome”.

The bargain of the week was a five-bedroom Victorian townhouse with sea views for just £250,000.