2015 will be a year of consolidation for Malvern in Bloom in the wake of the town's double success last year.

Malvern won its eighth gold medal in nine years in 2014's Heart of England in Bloom competition. And the town's first-ever entry in the national Britain on Bloom won a silver gilt medal, just a step away from a gold.

Bloom chairman John Jordan said that the Bloom committee and Malvern Town Council have agreed not to enter Malvern for the 2015 Heart of England in Bloom.

"We've decided that 2015 will be a year of consolidation," said Mr Jordan. "We won't be entering Heart of England in Bloom this year, but Malvern in Bloom will still be going strong, with our local competitions and so on."

The committee will en be encouraging more entries in the It's Your Neighbourhood, hotel and pub, school and children's arts competitions for 2015.

"I stress that this is just for this year, and we fully intend to compete in the regional and national competitions in the future and win them if we can, said Mr Jordan."

He said that the town council will be concentrating on further improvements to Rose Bank Gardens, which has already been massively improved in recent years and the library grounds.

He said: "The judges last year told us there was a lot they liked about Rose Bank, but pointed out areas that could be improved. That's what we'll be doing because we want to win in the future."

And he said that this year, he will also be looking for someone to step into his shoes as leader of the town's Bloom team, which he has headed since 2007.

"I'd like to go on forever but I'm 79 and I know I can't, so I'll be looking for someone to take over," he said: "It's probably a good idea if someone else were to take the lead while, in professional terms, I step down from being a practitioner to being a consultant."