Judges of a popular Royston gardening competition were dazzled by the excellent standard of entries, which they say left them ‘very impressed’.

The annual Royston in Bloom competition was judged by former town mayor Robert Smith, Royston town councillor Rita Turner and Pam Wright from the working party.

The judges remarked that ‘a very good show had been achieved across all categories’, with entrants designing their displays around this year’s rainbow theme.

The standards were so high that there were only a couple of points between many of the winners and runners up.

A spokeswoman said: “The members of the Royston in Bloom committee would like to thank all those who entered the competition, Royston Community Transport for conveying the judges around the route, the judges for all their hard work and support, and Royston Rotary Club for sponsoring this year’s competition.”

The winners of each category were as followed:

l Best front garden – Mr and Mrs Hawkins, Redwing Rise.

l Best kept street or community area – Collingwood Court.

l Plants in an unusual container – Hinton & Kingham.

l Bill Prime Award for children growing plants in an unusual container using recycled materials – Ben and Esther Charter in Icknield Walk.

l Best kept allotment – Chris Wallis.

Chris won a gold award for his garden, which made a bold political statement. In it, the faces of leaders of major political parties in the general election tower over a beautiful rainbow flower display.

He said: “It’s my political statement. The current leaders are pretty weak and have no self conviction. They don’t stand up for what they believe in.”

The awards will be presented on Thursday, September 17, at 7pm in Royston Town Hall.