GREEN-fingered West Somerset residents have been recognised for their skill and hard work to produce beautiful gardens.

The winners of Magna Housing’s annual gardening competition were invited to a ceremony at Silvermead community room, Alcombe, to receive their certificates and prizes.

Andrew and Mandy Irish, who live in Minehead, were the overall winners of the Tim Chilcott Cup. 

“We entered the communal garden category this year,” said Mandy.

“We have lived in our home for over 27 years, and we wanted to make the communal garden look nice. I wanted to tidy it up for everyone to enjoy.

“I love gardening and thoroughly enjoyed taking part. All the pots in the garden were made by my husband, and some of the bulbs were donated by our neighbours.

“I feel so proud to have won the cup and love looking out of the window to see what we achieved.”

One of the judges, Amanda Shirani, area housing manager (Somerset) at Magna, said: “It was a wonderful experience being able to go out to judge our residents’ beautiful gardens and I had a thoroughly enjoyable day!  

“Congratulations go to everyone who entered for putting on such stunning displays; everyone clearly made a lot of effort.”