Top marks have been given to Kent County Council for the seventh year running.

The council scored four stars in the latest assessment by the Audit Commission.

Inspectors praised education standards and social care in the county, and Kent’s low crime rate.

KCC was said to have “strong leadership” and offer residents “excellent value for money”.

This was also the seventh year the authority recorded an "improving strongly" grade.

Cllr Paul Carter (Con) said: “This report confirms that we are providing excellent quality services to residents, from the young to the old, from the education children receive in schools to the care we provide for our most vulnerable older residents.

~Listen: Paul Carter tells how delighted he is at the scoring - but how more needs to be done.>>>

“This journey of improvement has only been possible as a result of the hard work and dedication of KCC staff, elected members and our partners.”

Kent County Council has been improving strongly since 2002.

According to a report by the Audit Commission, KCC is a top performing council with four stars - one of 62 out of the 149 councils in England that holds the top grade.

It fared less well than four stars in its handling of children and young people, adult social care, the environment though, receiving only a three in these categories.

Three stars were also given for its culture services, despite spending millions of pounds on the controversial Kent TV, run by the musician Bob Geldof's production company.

Medway fared slightly less well, with a total of three stars.

The authority is said to have improved adequately since it was first monitored in 2002.

The council did receive top marks for its housing and benefits services, though.

Its lowest mark was two stars for culture.