Three beautiful parks win Yorkshire in Bloom prizes

Millhouses Park, which had won Platinum at last year's award, has been awarded Platinum once again at this year's ceremony.

Mortomley Park Rose Garden in High Green also brought home Platinum award.

Meanwhile, first time participant Hillsborough Park's Walled Garden bagged a Gold award.

Yorkshire in Bloom is a charity and a regional body representing the Britain in Bloom campaign that is organised by the Royal Horticulture Society.

It organises annual competitions to encourage communities to make a positive and lasting improvement to their local environment for the benefit of local people.

The awards ceremony, which are held annually in September, also encourages and develops community spirit whilst promoting responsibility for planting, cleanliness and maintenance, which in turn can boost the local economy.

Peter Stow, of the Friends of Millhouses Park said they were delighted to have been awarded for the second year running.

“It is testament to the hard work and dedication of the park staff and volunteers throughout the year. We are very proud of Millhouses Park Which continues to be “A Better Park for Everyone”, he said.

Jo Birch, one of the volunteers from Mortomley Park Rose Garden said the victory proved that their hard work all these years has paid off.

“We've been entering the Yorkshire in Bloom Competition for the past few years, and to achieve a Platinum for our hard work this year is the icing in the cake.“We’ll be back in the gardens on Saturday morning, planning the autumn clean up, bulb planting and planning what to do for next summer. We're also working closely with the Parks Department and hope to have the old footpaths re-tarmacked soon, to improve access for everyone.”

For Andy Chaplin, the win for Hillsborough Park’s Walled Garden was a win for everyone involved in making it a reality.

The treasurer of Friends of Hillsborough Park said: “We were delighted. It was the first year that we had entered and it is recognition of the work that the 20 over volunteers put in each Tuesday morning in the Walled Garden.

“The garden has been improved in the last 12 months, not only by the hard work of the volunteers, but by the support of the local community who have supported our fundraising events and bought plants from us, by the Park pub who secured a £3000 grant to repair raised beds, Tesco Bags of Help who gave us a £4000 grant to improve the wildlife area and the Parks & Countryside staff who also support our efforts.”