ORGANISERS of Malvern in Bloom are getting a sense of deja-vu, with fears that unsightly weeds could harm the town's chances of success in this year's competition.

Chairman John Jordan publicly blamed Worcestershire County Council's failure to weed the town in enough time for Malvern's failure to win the small town category in last year's Heart of England in Bloom competition.

And with this year's judging taking place in less than three weeks, he believes it is already too late to stop the same thing from happening again.

"On most of the roads we will be walking along with the judges you don't have to go very far before you see weeds coming through the pavement," he said. "In Bank Street the weeds are spreading a metre-and-a-half away from the wall, and Avenue Road and Link Top are also particularly bad.

"It gives a bad impression to the judges. They commented on it last year and it will be doubly bad when they comment on it again this year."

This year Malvern has entered the Heart of England in Bloom large towns section, and judging will take place on Monday, July 7.

Worcestershire County Council spokesman Paul Whittaker insisted a weed-spraying programme had already taken place.

"We understand that this competition means a lot to the people of Malvern, and we have been in contact with the organisers to discuss the idea of removing any unsightly weeds," he said. "We have told organisers we will do all we can to remove any dead weeds that may effect the judging to help Malvern in Bloom's cause."

But Mr Jordan said WCC had let his group down again, after pledging to carry out a thorough weeding programme by the start of April.

"There are still a great number of weeds in town, and in three weeks time they will not have disappeared off the face of the earth," he said. "The council doesn't seem to understand that when you spray weeds they don't just disappear instantly."