Corsham has been awarded its first ever silver gilt in the South West in Bloom competition.

The award is a step up from 2009 when it was only awarded a silver.

Corsham in Bloom organiser Ruth Hopkinson said: "The Corsham in Bloom committee is extremely pleased with the award. The category in which Corsham is judged includes many major tourist towns with much greater funds at their disposal.

“The judges recognised the hard work of the community in making Corsham not just a beautiful town, but one which values the natural environment.”

Among the community groups that were recognised in this year’s results were the St Bartholomew’s Church Livivng Churchyard Group, who received the highest award in the ‘It’s your neighbourhood’ competition. Corsham Primary School and the War Memorial Garden also performed well.

As part of the town’s entry, youngsters from The Corsham School worked with a local artist to produce model peacocks from arts and crafts materials which were filled with flowers. They were displayed around the town.

The idea was based on the family of around 50 peacocks which reside on the Corsham Court estate but often frequent the main street.

Mazy Bartlett, artist and outreach co-ordinator at the school, said: “The peacocks were a cross-community collaboration and we had a lot of people involved from various groups.”