KEIGHLEY district groups, businesses and attractions who help make the area a better place to live were rewarded at this year's Yorkshire in Bloom presentations.

Among the local achievers were the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, which received a gold award and won the visitor attractions category.

Coveted gold awards were also presented to East Morton, in the village category, the same village's Busfeild Arms pub, in the public houses and restaurants section and Keighley's Mount Pleasant Kennels, in the large business premises section.

East Morton managed an especially impressive all-round showing in this year's contest, as the East Morton Community Orchard was graded "outstanding" in the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) It's Your Neighbourhood category.

Praising the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway's efforts, the competition judges commented: "The standard of horticulture and bio diversity has increased exceptionally during the past few years.

"Every area we visited was maintained to the highest standard by all concerned, including alpine and herb beds, hanging baskets and planters, shrub planting and grassed areas sometimes in difficult conditions."

Commenting on East Morton's performance, the judges concluded: "The village is very clean and tidy, and we were impressed by the number and friendliness of all the people we met.

"The number of people at the coffee morning and the diversity of the groups represented was very impressive. Evidence of the involvement of the school was outstanding, especially the enthusiasm and knowledge of the children."

Yorkshire in Bloom is part of the RHS Britain in Bloom national competition, and aims to encourage communities of all sizes to make positive and lasting improvements to their local environment.

Entrants learned how they had done at an awards ceremony at York Racecourse on Tuesday. (Sept 16) Chairman of Yorkshire in Bloom, Brendan Mowforth added “The standard of entries this year has been very high and it is encouraging to see that so many groups are working so hard to keep Yorkshire beautiful”.

Local silver gilt award winners this year included Keighley, in the large town/small city category, along with Airedale Hospital, Keighley Healthy Living Centre and The Oaks Day Centre, in the public, private and charitable establishment section.

Silver gilts were also awarded to Keighley's Airedale Shopping Centre and Haworth Primary School's Gardening Club.

The village of Haworth, returning to the competition after its local in bloom group was resurrected, gained a silver, as did Holden Park, in Oakworth.