SPANISH car maker SEAT has pulled off Britain's top towing award with its Leon Estate FR being crowned tow car of the year by the Caravan and Motorhome Club.

The industry's longest standing towcar testing awards saw the Seat Leon impress the judges around UTAC's Millbrook Proving Ground's demanding and unique track.

Thirty two entrants were put into caravan weight categories - rather than being listed by price - to make it easier for buyers to know which cars could tow their caravans.

Cars were entered into classes using their 85 per cent kerbweight figure or by their towing limit, whichever was the lower.

The competition had seven weight classes, two family towcar categories as well as pick-up, electric and plug in hybrid categories.

Nick Lomas, director general of the Caravan and Motorhome Club said: "With the rise in popularity of the staycation, it's more important than ever that the Club continues to provide qualified and unbiased information for it's one million members to help them to find the right towcar for their needs."

The complete winners' line-up is:

Overall Winner and Caravan Weight 1100 - 1200kg:SEAT Leon Estate FR 1.5 TSI 150ps

Caravan Weight Under 1100kg and Electric Vehicles:Skoda Enyaq iV 80 Lounge 82 kWh 204ps DSG

Caravan Weight 1200 - 1300kg:Volkswagen Golf R-Line 2.0 TDI 150ps DSG

Caravan Weight 1300-1400kg:Nissan Qashqai Tekna+ (Xtronic)

Caravan Weight 1400-1500kg:Volkswagen Arteon Shooting Brake R-Line 2.0 TDI 200ps DSG

Caravan Weight 1500-1700kg:Volvo XC40 Recharge pure electric AWD

Caravan Weight Over 1700kg:Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid 8-Speed Tiptronic S

Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles:Volvo V60 Recharge plug-in hybrid T6 AWD

Family Towcar:Ford Kuga ST-Line X Diesel MHEV

Large Family Towcar:Ford S-Max FHEV ST-Line

Pick-up:SsangYong Musso Rhino Auto

It is the second major towing award for the Leon with the car scooping the honours in the What Car? towing awards in the up to 1400kg category alongside the SEAT Ateca which won the 1550-1699kg category.

The overall winner in that contest - which is run in conjunction with the Camping and Caravanning Club - was the diesel-powered Kia Sorento 2.2 CRDi.