MALVERN and Upton have both scored gold in this year’s Heart of England in Bloom awards.

Malvern brought home its ninth gold award in the large town category, presented at an awards ceremony held at Aldridge, near Walsall.

And Upton won gold for the 13th time, and also won the large village category for the 12th time.

John Jordan, chairman of Malvern in Bloom, said he was absolutely delighted by the latest win for the town, which comes after Malvern took a break from the competition last year.

He said: “We’ve had a bit of a change this year, with a few old stalwarts retiring from the committee and new faces replacing them, so it’s great that we’ve scored another success.”

Town clerk Linda Blake said: “As the town took a year off from the Heart of England in Bloom campaign in 2015, it is excellent to see that we have come back straight away with a gold award. So much hard work goes into the Bloom campaign and the volunteers on the steering group deserve recognition for all of their hard work.”

Jackie Surtees of Upton in Bloom said: “It’s a great accolade for the town and we’re delighted. We get a lot of help from the town. Businesses sponsor barrels and so on, and people support out fundraising raffles.

“When the judged visited in July, we took them round by the Swan to the river front, and one of them said ‘Wow!’ when he saw the displays. That made us happy. A lot of other people have said that as well.”

Cradley CE Primary School was awarded a special crystal trophy for the best school in the Heart of England in Bloom region.

Head Adam Greaves said: “We’re very pleased. We’re a very outdoorsy school, we’ve got a kitchen garden and the children do a garden at the Malvern Spring Show each year.

“The citation says that ‘social awareness, self-confidence, creativity, communication and community responsibility are all encouraged’, which we’re very pleased about.”

On the other side of the Malvern Hills, Ledbury brought home another gold in the small town category.