BIDSTON has won the title of 'Best Small Village' for a fourth year at the North West in Bloom awards.

The award encourages communities to improve and care for their local environment through imaginative planting of trees, shrubs, flowers and landscaping, conservation and recycling projects and by tackling issues such as litter, graffiti and vandalism.

Bidston has won the silver award in their category for the past three years. It picked up its fourth during an award ceremony at Southport Theatre on Thursday.

The village green also won the Amberol Trophy, named after the company that made the flower baskets that line the pavements in Hoylake.

Bidston Labour councillor Jim Crabtree, a horticultural tutor involved in helping the village achieve its silver award, told the Globe: "It's a great honour to have won the silver award for a fourth time, but it's also brilliant to have won the Amberol Trophy.

"We have had a lot of help from within the local community, which has helped earn this success and I want to say thanks to everyone."