A LEADING community group scooped five awards for keeping their town’s gardens clean and tidy.

Members of Civic Pride Rossendale were presented with the Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘It’s your Neighbourhood’ award in Southport.

The award is a grassroots community gardening campaign which is part of Britain in Bloom.

The campaign supports community groups in cleaning up and greening up their immediate local environment – whether that is the street they live in, or a small patch of communal land needing a revamp.

Each group receives an annual visit from an assessor who provides feedback on how further improvements can be made.

More than 1,600 groups already take part around the UK.

Rawtenstall residents Sue Cahill-Richards (Tup Bridge), David Parkin (Metal Tree Bed), Julie Phillips (Outbound Spur Road Layby), Helen Thomas (Embankment), along with Jackie Taylor, Jill Jackson won awards in the Outstanding and Thriving category for their hands-on community gardening work.

At the award ceremony, the Outstanding award – the highest level of recognition – was allocated to the people who maintained the Old Fold Garden, the Embankment, Outbound Spur Road Layby and Tup Bridge, all based in Rawtenstall.

The final award the group received was a level four award for maintaining the Metal Tree Bed, adjacent to the Rawtenstall Tesco.

The 'secret gardeners', who do gardening when it suits them rather than take part in Civic Pride’s regular weekly sessions, were ‘bowled over’ when the news was announced.

Roger Grimshaw, the vice chair of Civic Pride Rossendale, said: “The winners are bowled over obviously.

“There are 14 community gardens in Rossendale so to have five winners is amazing.

“We are equally pleased on behalf of the secret gardeners who looked after the gardens.

“Secret gardeners are people that go out and garden when it suits them rather then taking part in our regular sessions.

“Some people who work full time aren’t able to take part in our regular sessions so this is of benefit to them.

“We are the facilitators of this as the gardeners need the space we provide them."

Civic Pride has also been awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service in their work for eliminating litter and regenerating community gardens.