THE hard work and commitment of Exmouth and Littleham Southwest In Bloom volunteers once again paid dividends, after they scooped a slew of awards, including the best large coastal town for the second year. In the South West In Bloom competition, Exmouth won gold and retained the St Bridget’s Cup.

THE hard work and commitment of Exmouth and Littleham Southwest In Bloom volunteers once again paid dividends, after they scooped a slew of awards, including the best large coastal town for the second year.

In the South West In Bloom competition, Exmouth won gold and retained the St Bridget's Cup.

In the discretionary awards, volunteers were awarded the Wheatley Trophy for the best industrial area for their work at Liverton Business Park.

While three community groups, the Greenfingers Group, at Exmouth Quay, Camperdown residents and the Beautiful Brixington group were also awarded certificates of merit in the Royal Horticultural Society Neighbourhood Awards Scheme.

Littleham won a Silver Gilt in the Mary Mortimer category for villages with a population under 1,500, while in the neighbourhood awards, they received a certificate of merit for the work of several community groups.

These were the Littleham branch of the Royal British Legion - women's section - who maintain the flower beds and troughs outside the Bidmead Centre.

The combined efforts of the Chill youth group were also recognised as were residents of Capel Lane and Littleham Primary School for their work at Littleham Leisure Centre.

The results were announced at an event in Yeovil last week and follows the success of Budleigh in Bloom, which won gold and the Ayre Cup in the towns with a population of between 2,500 and 4,499 category.

They also bagged the new McDonalds Coastal Trophy for the best seaside entry in the South West.

Littleham in Bloom's Gill Gegg said: "We are delighted to have been awarded a Silver Gilt.

"At the start of each year it seems a very steep hill to climb for our small voluntary group, but the end result has made all the hard work worthwhile."

Chairman of Exmouth in Bloom, Pat Graham, said: "We are absolutely delighted to have won again this year.

"Everyone involved has worked extremely hard to keep our town looking lovely and we have done well because so many people are working together.

"We are particularly pleased that there are so many community groups working to improve the environment in which they live.

"We are also indebted to all the Streetscene ground maintenance teams and the cleansing section, who work tirelessly to keep the town looking good all the year round."

Judges praised Exmouth and said: "The visit to the town met our every expectation. Community participation and the public awareness were second to none. The quality of the parks and gardens was first class. A fantastic all round entry