A VILLAGE near York is aiming to continue an impressive record in Yorkshire in Bloom as they hosted the first round of judging.

Dunnington already boasts six wins in the Yorkshire competition along with a national win last year.

And the first round of judging on Thursday went well, according to Roy Freer, honourary president of Dunnington in Bloom.

He said: “They do not give away much but they did not make any negative comments whatsoever. We were blessed with a wonderful day so everywhere looked marvellous. They did ask where the schoolchildren were but of course they are on holiday.”

Mr Freer thinks the reason for the village’s history of success and the great start to this year’s competition is the huge support from the community.

“I said when we won Britain in Bloom last year we could not have done it without 99 per cent community involvement and we have got that. I know there are others in the competition who are jealous of the amount of support we get.

"We have won six gold awards for Yorkshire in Bloom and three silver awards with one gold for Britain in Bloom. What we have done will be history for the village,” he added.

The judges will return on July 16 for a second round of marking before they make their final decision. A tabletop sale, sponsored by Costcutter, will be held on April 25 to help raise the money needed to prepare.