Judges from the Royal Horticultural Society's Britain in Bloom contest were in Tenby this week to take a tour of the town's floral delights.

Tenby has once again been put forward to compete in the coastal category of the 2011 Britain in Bloom awards, which will see 76 villages, towns, cities and urban communities from across the UK competing for the coveted RHS medals.

Britain in Bloom is one of the largest and most successful horticultural campaigns in Europe, where approximately 115,000 volunteers donate an estimated 1.7 million hours of their time to the campaign.

Tenby in Bloom committee chairman, Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane, gave RHS judges John Woodward and Mel Henley a presentation and run through of some of the schemes that had been introduced in the resort to brighten up the town's gardens and streets.

One particular project is the Save a Shrub scheme, run in conjunction with Pembrokeshire County Council, which gives the opportunity for locals to recycle their unwanted shrubs, trees and ornamental grasses, in an initiative where they can be re-planted in areas around the town.

This season, the county council have planted around 20,000 plants in Tenby's gardens, hanging baskets, flower troughs and also introduced railing flower baskets to the Esplanade and The Green areas of the town.

The authority's 15 dedicated workmen, not only deal with the resort's horticultural needs, but also ensure that the environmental side of the town is kept up to scratch, with regular street and beach cleaning, refuse collections, waste recycling and maintenance of the town's street furniture.

Without giving anything away, RHS judge John Woodward said it was a very good tour of Tenby with some excellent displays.

He also commented that the resort was a very visitor friendly town that had made the most of enabling people to enjoy its spectacular views, and that it was good to see people taking responsibility for where they live.

His fellow judge, Mel Henley said that this was his fifth visit to Tenby, having taken three holidays as a child to the town and one with his children, and it was lovely to come back and see all the improvements that had been made.

He remarked that he was delighted to see the Tenby in Bloom committee working with the town and county council and all the local volunteers and enthusiastic amateur gardeners, which showed that there were clearly some determined people in Tenby all working together to meet the challenges of living in a busy seaside resort to create a really warm Welsh welcome.

The results of the Britain in Bloom awards are due to be announced next month.