BLOOMIN' lovely!

That was the judges' opinion of Lytham as it was voted the pick of the bunch of Fylde towns in this year's North West in Bloom competition.

And Fylde Borough Council has had its best year yet, with three first prizes, one first runner-up and one second runner-up award.

Almost 200 people packed into Grosvenor Park in Chester on September 15 to hear the results of the awards, including Best Urban Community and Best Small Village.

Narrowly beating off Knutsford and Northwich, peacefully picturesque Lytham will receive the coveted silver dish for the Best Town award as it did in 1997 and 1998.

Other winners included Staining, which picked up the Clean Sweep award for its cleanliness plus the Best Large Village award, and Kirkham and Wesham which won Best Small Town award. Chairman of the Lytham in Bloom Trust, Graeme Fallows was delighted that Lytham has been picked out for singular appreciation for the third time in four years.

"It is very encouraging to win, but a lot of it is about making Lytham beautiful and bringing out the charm of the town," he said.

"Lytham really lends itself to these floral displays and we have a good group of people who volunteer their services.

"Most of the people have full time jobs -- there are only a few of us who are retired -- but they are all giving up a great deal of their spare time.

"Now we can look forward to next year and we want to invite as many people along as we can to our coffee morning this coming Saturday, September 23, at Park Street Methodist Church at 10am, so we can raise money to plant a few thousand daffodils."

Chairman of Fylde Borough Council's tourism and leisure committee, Coun John Longstaff, said: "The Borough has never looked better, creating a wonderful environment for visitors and people who live and work in the area."