Children planted flowers in Calne town centre in preparation for the judging of South West in Bloom.

The town council invited pupils from John Bentley, Fynamore, Priestley, St Mary’s and St Margaret’s schools to plant petunias and begonias in the flowerbeds off Curzon Street.

Tina Clifford, the council’s Britain in Bloom co-ordinator, said: “We invite the children down every year but we usually get a couple of replies, so it was nice to have five schools involved.

“We want them to take pride in their town and the scheme really gives them a sense of community involvement. They can be proud of it and the town looks bright and colourful.”

Last year Calne won a silver award but this time it is looking to go one better on July 19. “We need to get a gold if we want to represent the region in the national Britain in Bloom competition,” said Mrs Clifford.

“We have real pride in our town and we want to encourage a community spirit in getting things looking nicer.”