GREEN-fingered volunteers in Barnoldswick are celebrating after winning two accolades in the North West region's Britain in Bloom awards.

Barnoldswick in Bloom received the trophy for the best new landscape planting in the North West and was awarded a gold medal for the fifth year in a row.

These accolades follow on from the group scooping gold in the town category of the national Britain in Bloom awards in mid-October.

The North West in Bloom landscaping trophy was for the new beds at the Memorial Gardens and follows several years of planning, preparation, fundraising and over 1,000 hours of volunteer time planting over the past year.

Barnoldswick in Bloom volunteer David Whipp said the landscape trophy is a discretionary award by the judges and is one the bloom group is very proud of.

"It's a real coup for us to win this award for the entire region," he said. "The preparatory work goes back four years when we started planning. The actual planting was done within the last 12 months."

Mr Whipp was also pleased to receive its fifth consecutive North West in Bloom gold medal.

"It shows the town has the highest standard in horticultural work and the general condition of the environment," he said. "It's good we've maintained that standard for several years on the trot. The real reward is the look of the town and the fact that people feel very proud of it."