LEICESTER MARKET has won an a prestigious Judges’ Award from East Midlands in Bloom 2007.

Traders and market staff went all-out this summer to make Leicester Market a blooming marvellous focal point on the judges’ route through the city as part of this year’s competition.

Cllr Andy Connelly, Cabinet lead for culture said: “This is great. It is a tremendous achievement and recognises the support provided by the market traders towards Leicester’s entry in the competition.

“I want to say a big thank you to the traders, the market café and all the staff who put in a lot of effort for Leicester In Bloom. It has really paid off, they should be really pleased”.

Judges said they were impressed with the quality and level of work and the involvement of local businesses.

Peter Chandler, acting head of markets said: “This is brilliant news. I know a lot of traders and staff on the market put a lot of effort into the project. Lots of customers commented about how nice the flowers looked. The flowers really cheered people up over a rather rainy July!”

Overall, Leicester won a silver gilt award in the Urban Regeneration category of the East Midlands in Bloom 2007.

Leicester City Council led the work on the city’s entry, which included the planting of thousands of hanging baskets and planters, cleaning of street furniture and landscaping.