THORNBURY put on a good show despite the showers for its annual South West In Bloom inspection.

The town played host yesterday to two judges from the Britain In Bloom regional competition, which Thornbury won last year.

Members of the Thornbury In Bloom committee took the judges on a very soggy tour of the town, pointing out various horticultural projects that are taking place.

Highlights included gardens at Crossways School, the Castle School, Christ the King Church, Thornbury’s allotments and the town’s composting site.

After the tour the judges were received by Cllr Phyllida Parsloe, Thornbury’s mayor, at a special reception held in the town hall where an exhibition about Thornbury In Bloom was also on show.

At the reception the Thornbury In Bloom committee were joined by members of the local community, such as the Thornbury Litter Busters and Thornbury Rotary, who have helped get the town ready for its day of judging.

Sue Aitken, chairman of the Thornbury In Bloom committee, said: "Today has gone really well. All the feedback we’ve had has been very positive. The judges could see how much work had been put in by the volunteers and the entire Thornbury community."

John Bawden, one of the regional judges, said: "We have had a very warm welcome. The organisation of today’s tour has been first class and we wish Thornbury all the best in the competition."

Thornbury will find out how well it has done in September, however before that it has to face a second round of judging on August 3 when it is visited by the Britain In Bloom national competition.

"We now need to keep all our hard work up for another two weeks ready for the judges from the national Britain In Bloom competition," said Ms Aitken.