The park is jointly managed by East Dunbartonshire and Stirling Council because it is located on the cusp of the border between the two areas. Councillor Eric Gotts is the chairman of Mugdock Country Park for East Dunbartonshire and Councillor Colin O'Brien is the vice chairman for Stirling.

Councillor Gotts said: "Mugdock Country Park has supported VisitScotland's quality assurance scheme for many years. We consider this independent assessment essential as one measure of how the park is seen to perform in a highly competitive tourism destination market. All staff and on-site traders should be thanked for their efforts in bringing a better standard of service throughout."

Councillor Colin O'Brien added: "A significant feature of the park's development is the work of the country park's joint management committee which has provided year on year the right environment to encourage new businesses to flourish and provide the strategic funding necessary to sustain the park's existence in a very competitive leisure and tourism market."

The award is based on the standard of cus-tomer care and range of facilities on offer at the park, including the level of the welcome, hospitality and service they provide, as well as presentation and standard of toilets, shop or café.

The park's overall score was 82 per cent, one star higher than previously, and has been achieved by the steady service development of new build, new business start-up and improved interpretation.

Many schools participate in a wide range of leisure and countryside activities at the park. Local visitors make up over 80 per cent of the visitors and every year the number and range of events at the park has increased steadily.

Mugdock Park manager Iain Arnott, said: "Access to such a wide choice of activities is a very positive thing to many people whether the gain is through environmental education, arts and culture, leisure and recreation or even just social opportunity. For many, it is a very important part of their routine and leisure time, and the park has tried to make as many events as possible accessible to most within society by making many free or applying a nominal fee only."

In the last four years the park has hosted over 500 events and activities, the Ranger Service has led over 250 countryside events, concerts are regularly sold out, film nights are becoming more popular and in 2007 the park introduced its first theatre programme.