Top villages in this year's South Kesteven District Council Best Kept Village competition are recognised
The winners have gathered to collect Best Kept Village awards
Top villages in this year's South Kesteven District Council Best Kept Village competition have been presented with commemorative certificates and winners' golden litter bins.
Harlaxton and Stubton both received a gold bin as respective winners of the large and small village categories. Thurlby was the second and Fulbeck the third placed large village, with Swinstead as second and Welby third placed small village.
SKDC is now offering to share final judging scores with parish councils wishing to improve their chances of future success in the annual competition.
Cllr Rosemary Trollope-Bellew, SKDC Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy, presented the awards alongside Steffie Shields, Chair of the Lincolnshire Gardens Trust, which helped with final judging.
She said:
"I want to thank all our winners for their commitment and to encourage even more of the community pride that shines through in this competition.
"By showing villages where and how they can improve their scores, we can help make our villages even more beautiful. One of our winners requested those details last year and managed to get an award this year.
"It's been another great year, and there are extra benefits from assessing the general state of villages. It flags up areas that need attention, so that we can direct our clean teams to address issues."
Around 100 villages and hamlets across the district were visited, helped by the Lincolnshire Gardens Trust in assessing village facilities including village halls, paths and evidence of community pride and ownership.
The two categories are medium villages with 501-5000 residents and small villages with 100-500 residents.Thurlby parish councillors David White, Alan Thomas and Richard Bill with SKDC councillor Barry Dobson (centre) and resident Kathleen Cockerill (left)