British grocery chain The Co-operative Group has been named Responsible Retailer of the Year for the third time in a row.

Judges of the Oracle Retail Week Awards said the group was "streets ahead" of anyone else in the field.

Other companies on the finals shortlist were Asda, B & Q, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco.

Highlights of Co-operative activity in 2009 included the launch of Plan Bee to reverse the decline of the British bee population, work towards the creation of new marine reserves to help protect UK fish stocks, and working with WWF to focus on the environmental and social impact of tar sands extraction as part of its toxic fuels campaign.

Ongoing initiatives also showed real progress, according to the judges - carrier bag use is down 60 per cent at Co-operative Food stores. The Group's ongoing and growing commitment to Fairtrade was also recognised.

Source: The Co-operative Group