People can vote for the Pembrokeshire Coast as ‘Holiday Destination of the Year’ for the BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards 2018, which celebrate the best of the British countryside and its people.

For its seventh awards event BBC Countryfile Magazine has announced a shortlist of mighty landmarks, outstanding national parks, beautiful nature reserves and finest rural pubs from around the UK, with Wales well represented on the shortlist, which is open to the public vote from today (January 19).

This year, the magazine invited readers to send in their suggestions for the greatest places and organisations in the British countryside.

In the ‘Holiday Destination of the Year’ category, the Pembrokeshire Coast will go up against - the Isle of Wight, Suffolk, Speyside, and the Forest of Bowland.

An expert judging panel, including Countryfile presenter John Craven, BBC Countryfile Magazine Editor Fergus Collins, BBC presenter and naturalist Miranda Krestovnikoff, Editor of BBC Wildlife Magazine, Sheena Harvey, author and rural affairs journalist Mark Rowe and adventurer Phoebe Smith gathered to review all the submissions, whittling down the vast number of nominees down to a shortlist of five contenders in each category.

Panellist John Craven said: “Helping to choose the shortlists meant interacting with you, our readers, in a quite remarkable way. We carefully considered every nomination and some were for places I had never heard of but which you obviously love.

“That made me determined to check them out, whilst others rekindled many happy memories. What a pleasant way to spend a few hours – discovering your particular favourites in the massive cornucopia that is our countryside.”

Voting opens online at www.countryfile.com/awards from January 19 and will close at midnight on March 5.

Winners will be announced in the May issue of BBC Countryfile Magazine.

Phoebe Smith said: “The BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards are so important. “There’s nothing else like them to highlight the incredible landmarks, nature reserves, national parks and conservation initiatives that are so often overlooked but that really make a difference to our lives.

“Every single nominee should know they had an ardent supporter among us and well deserve their spot in the shortlist,” she added.