BROTHER and sister Derrick and Rowlatt Cook are leaving the internationally acclaimed garden they created at Red Gables in Offenham Road, Evesham.

During their 35 years there the couple have regularly open the garden gates to raise money for charity and have collected more than £37,000 for Brook House, Offenham Church, Friends of Evesham Community Hospital, Royal Association for the Deaf, the Cobalt Unit, Marie Curie and NSPCC.

"We have decided the time has come to call it a day," Rowlatt said. "Derrick is nearly 80 and I shall be 75 soon and we thought it best to leave while we are both still fit and well."

She added: "We are both very sorry to be leaving Red Gables where we have been so happy for so many years but we are going to look for somewhere local to live so shan't be leaving the area or our many friends."

The garden will open for the last time from 10am to 5.30pm on September 2 and 3 in aid of the League of Friends of Evesham Community Hospital.

Over the years, Rowlatt and Derrick have scoured the world for unusual plants, including expeditions to the Himalayas, and have many of their "finds" in their acre-plus garden - runner-up in the Daily Mail National Gardens Competition.

"We hope that someone who loves gardens will take it over and perhaps continue to run it in the way we have, but who knows," Rowlatt said.