A SCORE of communities and organisations in the Vale of York and Ryedale are celebrating success in the Yorkshire In Bloom 2017 awards.

They include the entire town of Malton, York St John University, York Racecourse and RAF Dishforth.

Yorkshire Lavender in Terrington won the overall award for Visitor Attractions as well as a gold award. The judges declared it “was a pleasure to visit even on the wettest of days”.

Homestead Park also won two awards - the Yorkshire Rose Public Park Award and a gold award.

The judges praised its new dementia garden with scented and textured plants, circle garden with ease of access, its formal display related to honeybees and its leaflets and guides to finding and identifying wildlife in the park. .

The Yorkshire Agricultural Society celebrated four awards. It was joint winner of the large business premises category with the Great Yorkshire Showground and outright winner of the caravan camping and chalet parks category with Harrogate Caravan Park. Both also won gold awards.

RAF Dishforth near Thirsk was a joint winner of the Yorkshire Rose Community Award.

All the awards were presented in a lengthy ceremony at York Racecourse, itself a gold award winner in the visitor attractions category.

Other gold winners were: Bramham near Wetherby in the large village category, Dunnington (small town category), Middlethorpe Hall and Spa, York (large hotels), Treasurer’s House, York, (visitor attractions) York Museum Gardens (country houses, estates and parks and gardens), Friends of York Cemetery (open spaces) and York St John University (universities, colleges and further education establishments)

Silver gilt winners included: Malton in the Grow Your Community category, Market Cross, Selby (shopping centres and retail parks) and Sutton Park Stately Home (country houses, estates, and parks and gardens).

Silver winners included: The Principal Hotel, (large hotels category).

Earwick Scented Garden and Low Moor Community Kids’ Allotment, York, were declared “outstanding” and Acomb Alive “advancing” in the It’s Your Neighbourhood category.

In North Yorkshire, Filey won the small coastal resort category and a gold award and in East Yorkshire, Beverley won the large town and small city category, in which Goole took a gold award.