A Leicester politician has been named online councillor of the year at a local democracy think tank's inaugural awards.

Ross Grant is leader of the Conservatives on Leicester City Council and won the award for embracing blogging and social networking site Twitter.

He said: "It's totally free and it helps you engage with the people you're elected to serve, which is why I use social media whenever I can in my role as a councillor.

"It has certainly broadened my horizons and allowed me to take a range of views on different ideas I have. I've been blogging and using Twitter for more than a year now and would encourage more councillors to sign up."

The Local Government information Unit's (LGiU) gongs are handed out to the "unsung heroes" working across Britain, and judges for the online councillor award looked for elected members who had embraced new technologies to talk to their community.

Andy Sawford, chief executive of the LGIU, said: "I would like to congratulate Coun Grant on winning the award for online councillor of the year.

"Social networking and online capacities for engagement are already a popular means for councillors to engage with the electorate, whether through Twitter, Facebook, email or blogging.

"In an ever fragmented world councillors should innovate to engage with their communities alongside more traditional methods."

Nominations were made by members of the public and other councillors and the judging panel included council leaders from across Britain.

Other categories announced today included council leader of the year, young councillor of the year, and scrutineer of the year.

The LGiU is an award winning think-tank which aims to strengthen local democracy and help citizens to engage with politicians.

The awards were due to be handed out at an awards ceremony at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in London today, however Coun Grant will not be attending because there is a council scrutiny committee tonight.

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