South West in Bloom Judges toured Exmouth on Monday and came away hugely impressed.

It gives Exmouth, which won the 2009 St Bridget’s Cup in the Best Large Town Category, a real chance of regaining the honour, with results out in September.

Judges Terry Porter and Carol Wride toured displays, parks and gardens accompanied by Pat Graham, of Exmouth in Bloom, the district council’s Mike Vine and Beacon School pupils.

Lucy Lockwood, Joseph Lewis and Daniel Briggs were just some of the pupils who, this year, designed and planted flowerbeds in Manor Gardens.

Pat Graham said: “We were walking around the town with the judges and Terry Porter said how impressed he was with the cleanliness of the town. They liked the displays in the Magnolia Centre and I think we got the balance just right.”

She paid tribute to the handiwork of four groups in the town, Greenfingers at the Quay, Camperdown Ladies, Bronte Court and Brixington School Farm, who have been entered in the Community awards category.

Friends Group secretary Linda Dennis: “The friends’ group has made a real difference. “We have old ladies coming up to us and giving us �4 out of their pension and people offering to help weed. It’s been a real community effort.”