THE borough's green-fingered community received a pat on the back this week for brightening up our streets.

The Richmond Borough in Bloom awards were handed out at York House on Tuesday night.

One of the notable winners was Rex Worsley, of St Margarets Road, Twickenham, who scooped the Best Front Garden category, pipping his neighbours and previous winners John and Beryl Gay. Rex, 77, also won the highly coveted Richmond and Twickenham Times Trophy, which is chosen from all front garden and residential frontage entries. This was presented by Times picture editor David Allen.

Commenting on winning the prize, Rex said: "I'm over the moon. We put a lot of hard work into the garden so it gives us a lot of satisfaction."

Ian McKinnon of the Whitton Community Resources Centre won the inaugural Special Environmental Garden Prize, an award sponsored by the Serco group.

Event organiser Pat Schooling said: "It was a particularly good year, with some lovely displays and gardens. Next year, we would like to see more people enter the competition because there are some beautiful gardens which weren't even put forward."