A GIN distillery has been recognised for its part in going green.

Bombay Sapphire Distillery, based at Laverstoke Mill, achieved a silver award from Green Tourism, a nationwide scheme which aims to change the relationship between industry and the planet.

The site based in a leafy conservation area has won 15 awards since it opened in 2014, and this time round was judged in categories such as social responsibility, energy saving, travel and transport, and innovation and waste minimisation.

The award body said: “The site has lots of green initiatives in place already.

“The centre is suitable for many guests with disabilities while the surroundings have taken into account the abundance of wildlife and have even encouraged more to nest.

“Waste minimisation seems to work well with recycling options available for all the main waste streams.”

The team is now working towards achieving gold.

Bombay Sapphire Distillery’s green champion Emily de Noia said: “I’m delighted that we have received a silver award for everything we’ve done so far.

“We’re now looking at reducing our water usage in the Mill Bar, providing more specific information about our local wildlife and we’re continuing to research innovative ways to carry on reducing waste to even further improve our sustainable measures.”

The site dates back to 10th century and was most notably a Victorian paper mill, which once produced all the banknote paper for the Bank of England and the British Empire.