The judges were greeted in the Town Hall by the In Bloom Committee and local school children last Thursday. Pupils from Northlands Wood School made a presentation and talked the judges through the school garden club diary.

The judges were then taken on a tour around Haywards Heath in a Ford Galaxy lent by Dinnages to the In Bloom Committee.

The route included Oathall Community College, where judges met students who had built the garden for the South of England Show.

St Wilfrid's School greeted the judges with a burst of song and at St Joseph's School the visitors met a group of gardening mums.

Other visits to Oathall Avenue allotments, Blunts Wood and Paiges Meadow Nature Reserve, Bolnore Village, The Orchards Centre and Muster Green also proved a hit and there was not a drop of rain in sight.
Stephanie Littlewood, secretary of the In Bloom Committee, said: "It went really well and we were really pleased.

"The flowers looked sparkling; they were in tip top condition.
"But it is not just about the flowers, there was a great community effort. So many people helped out on the day.

"We were so lucky with the weather too."

The In Bloom Committee will now wait in anticipation for the results to be announced at the annual awards ceremony held at The Hawth, Crawley, in September.