MORE than a thousand garden lovers flocked to a fair and helped to raise £10,000 for a charity trust which supports a school near Devizes.

Sunny weather on Saturday helped bring out the crowds to Rowdeford School Garden Fair, which has become a fixture in the calendars of keen growers from across the county.

Garden fair chairman Tony Scorer said: "We are so grateful to everyone for coming along and supporting us this year.

"Once again we had a huge variety of specialist growers, as well as garden accessories and furniture, which appeal to the serious and novice gardener alike.

"It was heartening to see so many families enjoying the day from children to our president, Mike Bowden.

"They enjoyed the creative face-painting, seeing and being able to handle lots of animals, story telling by Fiona Eadie in the yurt as well as wellie wanging and the bug hunt.

"It seems as if we created a lovely day for all ages. The WI teas, Vaughan’s Café and the Pimm's stall did a roaring trade all day and the generosity of all to the Rowdeford Charity Trust is very much appreciated."

This year the weather helped boost attendance, being ten per cent up on last year.

One of the highlights of the day was the Rowdeford Walled Garden where plants grown by pupils from Rowdeford under the guidance of Dianne Webb, who is known by all as Di the Gardener, were sold.

Takings from this alone rose from £500 last year to £950.

The 2016 fair was the 11th since it was founded to raise money for the Rowdeford Charity Trust, which supports the development and maintenance of activities in the school for the benefit of the pupils and wider community.

It now attracts specialist growers from throughout the south west who are happy to advise visitors as well as sell top quality plants.

Visitors on Saturday also had the chance to see the refurbished Victorian glasshouse that was completed last summer after more than 800 panes of glass, the majority of which are original, were removed by hand, individually cleaned and replaced.