Although Tenby won its Wales in Bloom category for the 12th year in succession this year, more effort would be needed next year for the resort to retain its floral crown, it was claimed this week.

Mayor of Tenby, Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown, told fellow town councillors on Tuesday that while the town had been successful again, it had some of its lowest marks since entering, achieving just 146 out of a possible 200.

The judge, Mr. Clive Addison, had also been critical of the lack of involvement in the competition from some sectors, so much so that Clr. Mrs. Brown took the unprecedented step of asking if his comments could be passed on to the press for publication.

Mr. Addison said that Tenby's small town category had been particularly competitive this year with a number of towns coming close to achieving the top honour.

While Tenby had been successful, it needed to work hard over the next few years to retain its place, as a number of other towns were close behind it.

The judge said that there were a good number of excellent floral displays both by the town council and in the private sector and singled out in particular Shearwater, Myrtle House, the Imperial Hotel, the Lynmaure, Southcliffe Hotel, Anvil House, the Gilroy Phillips Garden, St. Mary's Church, the fire station the Normandie Inn and The Spinnaker.

However, he was disappointed to see that 'quite a few' private sector businesses who used to be involved were not now taking part and he was particularly surprised to see that this included the tourist information centre.

"Businesses do need to be continually encouraged to take part and certainly the TIC is a focal point for visitors and should be high on the priority list for improvement," he wrote.

Mr. Addison admitted that cleanliness was a constant headache where seagulls will have a "field day with any rubbish bags left out and tourists visiting."

However, he felt the town had done well, as it was generally litter free when he visited, earning it 32 marks out of a possible 40.

Where the town lost out most was in sustainable development, and public awareness.

In the sustainable development category, which included community effort, the town could, in Mr. Addison's view, only merit 14 out of a possible 30, while it picked up 12 out of 20 for public awareness of Wales in Bloom.

He felt that it was important for the town to try and increase marks in this section, particularly if it wanted to go forward to represent Wales in Britain in Bloom.

Having said that, however, Mr. Addison added it was a pleasure to see what had been achieved in Tenby and congratulated the town on its hard work.

"Most of the points seem to concern private sector involvement," said Clr. Mrs. Brown.

"The town council hasn't got a lot of money, but it has got a staff who work really hard to achieve what we have done.

"The judge was particularly disappointed on the day to see no displays outside many of the shops and businesses in High Street."

Having accompanied the Mayor and the judge on his tour, and hearing his comments, Clr. Mrs. Maureen Ward agreed that the town's floral crown could be under threat next year unless more was done.

"The hotels and restaurants were not a problem, it's the big multiples," she said.

Clr. Mickey Folland suggested that the town council write to the head offices of all the large multiple stores, banks and building societies, asking them if their local branches could participate in the competition in future.

Clr. Mrs. Brown pointed out that the Tenby in Bloom committee did so every year, with little success.

"In the real world, big business is not interested in flowers, just money in the tills," claimed Clr. Miss Lis James.

"It is not going to affect them if they have a flower outside or not.

"Most are not interested in the local community, only by what the local community can put into their coffers!"

Members agreed to do as much as they could to support Tenby in Bloom in their bid to get more people involved in the competition.