RESIDENTS of Walthamstow Village welcomed the ‘London in Bloom’ judges today.

Walthamstow Village has been entered for the Urban Communities Award of the London-wide competition and the judges spent three hours assessing the community against a number of criteria.

The Vestry House Museum garden, in Vestry Road, was nominated for the Community Garden Award.

The judges also looked at residential and other properties under the Front Garden and Beautiful Premises Challenge scheme.

Spokeswoman Helen Lerner, who put forward the idea of entering said: "Residents have invested many hours planting, pruning, weeding, painting over graffiti, and litter picking in our streets because they enjoy working together in our close local community and take pride in its appearance.

"I am hugely impressed by the improvements many people have made to their front gardens and shop fronts.”

As well as creating beautiful streets, another aim of the scheme has been to improve community cohesion and security.

The winners of London in Bloom, which is part of the nationwide Britain in Bloom competition, will be announced in September.