POPPING champagne corks heralded the start on Monday of this year's search for the local heroes who make Wiltshire so special as the 2004 People of Wiltshire Awards were launched.

The annual awards are run by Wiltshire County Council in conjunction with the Gazette and Herald and with the help of sponsors and a wide range of local organisations to celebrate the work and achievements of our unsung stalwarts.

There are six awards that honour the achievements of young people, good neighbourliness, care in the community, protecting the environment, sporting success and the employer of the year.

The People of Wiltshire Awards, now in their third year, were devised by the county council to honour the individuals, local organisations and businesses that have made outstanding contributions to community life in the county.

Nomination forms will be available throughout Swindon and Wiltshire in libraries, doctors' surgeries, pharmacies, opticians, dental surgeries, youth centres and leisure centres.

The forms are also available online at www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk and in all local newspapers run by the Gazette's parent company Newsquest. Nominations close at 5pm on April 30.

A vintage bus supplied by Newsquest will also be touring Wiltshire towns to hand out nomination forms and a new People of Wiltshire banner will hang outside County Hall during the next month.

The sponsors are Virgin Mobile (good neighbour award), Nationwide Building Society (youth award), Persimmon Homes (sporting success award), Order of St John Care Trust (carer in the community award), Wiltshire Times (environment award) and Ringway Parkman (employer of the year award).

All the winners will receive £500 except the business of the year, which will receive £500 worth of free advertising.

The winners will be announced at a gala evening at the Civic Hall, Trowbridge on June 23.

County council vice-chairman Allan Peach said: "This initiative is a wonderful opportunity for us to let everyone know that the help these people give to their neighbours, employees, and environment is greatly appreciated. We look forward this year to honouring even more of the people who make Wiltshire special."

Among those at the champagne launch on Monday were some of last year's winners, such as brave Michaela-Jay Dallison, the nine-year-old from Westbury who won the youth award for helping her ill mother.

Sue Ozolins, who founded Project Spear in Swindon with the aim of helping people to overcome self-injury and stress-related illness, was the winner of the carer in the community award, while Liz Porter, 89, took the good neighbour award for her outstanding contribution to the community of Box.