THE green-fingered efforts of Malvern's businesspeople and private individuals were rewarded when the Malvern In Bloom winners were announced this week.

Scooping the coveted top prize in the business category was the Express Inn at Quest Hills Road. In second place was Hunts the Florist in Court Road while The Unicorn on Belle Vue Terrace was third.

A further six premises were awarded highly commended certificates. They were: the New Recruit, Newtown Road; the Foley Arms hotel, Worcester Road; NatWest Bank, Church Street; DIR International, Upper Chase Road; English Braids, Spring Lane; and the Red Lion, St Ann's Road.

Certificates for the best private front gardens were presented to Arthur Cotterrell of Pickersleigh Road, Pamela Trower of ?????? and Bob Maycroft of ???????

The judges, who examined 48 entries, were town mayor Frances Victory, deputy mayor Michael Angell, town councillor Ann Silk, operations manager Richard Chapman, district council chairman Mary Wilkinson and Mary Davies of Malvern Floral Arts Club.

Coun Victory said: "It's brilliant for the town to have all these floral displays.

"The flowers put out by the district council have been superb and it was quite hard to judge among all the businesses for their displays."

She said she hoped Mavern might consider emulating Ledbury in the near future by entering the Britain in Bloom contest.

Coun Angell said: "We were judging on three criteria: colour-coordination, appearance and maintenance. For a town the size of Malvern, the effort put in and the results are superb. It shows how interested people can get."

He said he was interested in extending the competition next year, with different categories.