_DSC1594Oldham has scooped the title of Best City*, for the fourth year in a row, at the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society’s North West in Bloom competition.

The judges were bowled over by Oldham’s entry and awarded the Borough the top prize at an awards ceremony held in Southport Theatre and Convention Centre that was attended by community gardening champions. The Borough has now been nominated as the region’s representative for Britain in Bloom 2014 in the Best City category.

Councillor Dave Hibbert, Cabinet Member for Environment and Housing, said: “To participate in such a prestigious event was a real honour and our entry has been warmly welcomed by the whole community. This award has added a real sense of achievement and reflects the hard work, dedication and commitment from all who have been involved in what has been a real co-operative project. This is yet another example of Oldham’s growing regional and national reputation as a great place to live, work and visit. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has taken the time and made the effort to get involved so that we have been able to achieve such fantastic results.”

The prestigious award is the culmination of a year’s worth of work involving local businesses, residents and community groups. This year’s theme was ‘Edible Britain’ which centred on the plants and shrubs which grow naturally in the country, but also make delicious and nutritious ingredients for the cooking pot.

In keeping with the theme, the WOW bed outside the Spindles Town Centre Shopping Centre was in the shape of a boot – a reference to the magic beans from the ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ fairy tale – this year’s Christmas pantomime at the Oldham Coliseum.

* Although Oldham is a town, entries to the Britain in Bloom ‘Best City’ category are based on the size of the electoral roll.

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