A STUNNING garden full of memories of family life has won the special award for all-round achievement at this year's Worcester In Bloom competition.

Old tin baths, fossils and 65 pixies and fairies are incorporated in the beautiful, yet tiny, back garden in the Arboretum area.

Joy Hoskins' 12ft by 20ft pride and joy also won first prize in the landscape garden category.

"I spend about an hour-and-a half a night in the garden, I just love it," she said.

"I was absolutely and utterly surprised to win this. We like it because it's a garden full of our memories but it's nice that others appreciate it too."

Almost everything in the garden, in Middle Street, has a memory attached to it, from bits of driftwood picked up in Somerset to shells and fossils found on holiday at the seaside.

"It's just lovely to sit out here

in the evenings as we have

lights and lanterns and we sit outside and eat our tea," Mrs Hoskins added.

Among other winners, Furness Close Sheltered Accommodation in Brickfields, Worcester, won first prize in the retirement homes category for the fifth year running.

Warden Marilyn Furlong said: "It's a beautiful place and gives pleasure to our tenants, who have a pleasant view from their windows. We have five or six tenants who are really dedicated and who have created the pots and tended to the flowerbeds."

Doug Mardell from Claines was the overall winner of the event, which was held at Worcester's Huntingdon Hall and recognised the achievement of competitors in both the Worcester In Bloom and the city's Allotment Forum.

The Mug House in Claines won first prize in the pub and restaurant section while Wyatt Guest House in Barbourne Road had the best garden in the hotel category.

Bill Simpson, one of the judges and a former principal of Pershore College, said the standard this year had been higher than ever.

"Competition is now fierce and we made our decisions on how the gardens were built and maintained and, above all, how colourful they were," he said.

"What is particularly pleasing is that businesses are now

contributing to the overall look of the city and setting ever higher standards.

"Gardens that are a little bit imaginative, innovative and immaculate are the ones that end up with the prizes."