Perth in Scotland has been awarded the top prize in this year's RHS Britain in Bloom gardening competition.
The city was awarded the top prize and crowned Champion of Champions in the 55th annual Britain in Bloom and impressed the RHS judges with its urban green spaces and pollinator-friendly planting along with its campaign to raise awareness of and collect plastic waste.
Focusing on sustainability, Perth has placed parks, gardens and biodiversity hotspots along the River Tay, some of which are designed to mitigate flood risk. In Riverside Park there are over 500 varieties of heather maintained by an army of volunteers.
The city beat stiff competition from Durham, Kingsbridge in Devon, Castlecaulfield in Northern Ireland and St Helier in Jersey. A total of 68 communities compete across 12 categories in the RHS Britain in Bloom competition. Categories include best village, urban community and city and there are gold, silver gilt, silver or bronze medals within each category. Perth was also awarded a discretionary award for the quality of Riverside Park.
Darren Share, Chair of the RHS Britain in Bloom judges, said: “Congratulations to Perth for its forward-thinking environmental initiatives, superb horticulture and far-reaching community support, with its small army of volunteers contributing 5,000 hours every year.
In the Town category, Amersham was awarded gold, in BIDs Town Centres and City Centres Bath Business Improvement District was awarded gold along with Canary Wharf. Other category winners include Llandudno in the Large Coastal category, Hale Village in the Urban Community category, Green Moor in Yorkshire in the Village category and Goring-on-Thames in the Small Town category.