Shrewsbury wins Heart of England in Bloom competition plus two other awards

Results for the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) annual competition were announced at an awards ceremony in Coventry today, and Shrewsbury was declared the overall winner.

Shropshire's county town scooped three awards, winning the Horticultural Excellence Award, the 'Small City' category as well as being crowned the winner of the overall competition for the first time since the town council's creation.

The prize is awarded to "exceptional achievers who have demonstrated a consistently high standard in all areas of the judging criteria".

Shrewsbury Town Council was delighted to announce that the town has won the competition which has "once again shown that it is blooming marvellous".

Judges visited Shrewsbury on July 23 this summer with a four-hour-long tour starting at the town council's Weeping Cross Depot before visiting a number of locations in the county town including the award-winning Dingle gardens.

The town council says the town was judged against "exacting criteria for not only its spectacular floral features, but also on the work that the community engages in on a local level and the conservation and recycling schemes in place to help protect our environment".

Chairman of the Shrewsbury in Bloom committee, Keith Roberts says he is delighted with the results, especially considering this year's challenging weather conditions.

He said: "We are extremely proud to have won the category. The town council's staff have worked hard to ensure that the floral features around the town have looked their best throughout the summer.

"Shrewsbury in Bloom isn't just about flowers, and it was important to show the judges that the whole community gets involved in the Bloom ethos. We have taken the judges to a wide variety of community projects this year and we have demonstrated that there are so many great projects that help to improve not only local areas but also the lives of our residents."

Town clerk, Helen Ball added: "This is the first time that Shrewsbury Town Council has won the overall category since the council's creation. It is testament to the hard work by so many people here in Shrewsbury that we have maintained our standards with this award. I would like to congratulate everyone who has helped us win the category, including the exceptional floral displays throughout the town.

"We have seen a great collaborative effort from not only Shrewsbury Town Council, our partners at Shropshire Council, and the Shrewsbury Business Improvement District who have helped in supporting us with organising the purchase of hundreds of hanging baskets.

"The Bloom campaign is all about how the community comes together and we can see the civic pride in our town, which I think we have been able to demonstrate to the judges this year and Winning the Small City category awards reflects that."