After months of hard work and preparation, Battle's gardeners returned from the South and SE in Bloom awards presentations in Crawley last week with the top award in six out of eight entries.

For the first time, Battle received the trophy for the best entry in the SE Region in the small town category and also received a Silver Gilt award.

And for the second year running, the Almonry Garden was judged the Best Small Park in the SE Region, winning a Gold award.

In the Small Neighbourhood category, Saxonwood Court and Wellington Court were both judged as Outstanding, the highest RHS award.

In addition St Martins received a Merit for the second year running and newcomers 1 – 6 Senlac Gardens received a very creditable Improvement award.

John Hill, of Glengorse, was a surprise winner of an award in this year's South East in Bloom.

The event, which has been sponsored for a number of years by Southern Water, includes the discretionary Waterwise Gardens Award.

The judges made just one individual award in the South East this year, which went to John.

Southern Water were shown John's garden as an example of one of the water conservation efforts being made in the town and were so impressed by his exceptional efforts to conserve water, the company put him forward for the award.

Finally, to round off an almost clean sweep in the categories for which Battle was eligible, Margaret Emeleus, chair of Beautiful Battle, received the South East In Bloom Commendation Award.

Margaret was given the award in recognition of dedicating so much of her time to the South East in Bloom cause over a number of years.

More than 200 entrants took part in the competition and were awarded Bronze, Silver, Silver Gilt or Gold awards, with an overall winner chosen from each category.

Marks were awarded according to a number of criteria, including how efficient the entrants were with water and other natural resources.

The awards were presented by Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins.

Town mayor Ron Harris said: "This was a truly magnificent outcome representing a richly deserved reward for all the effort which the town's gardeners have put in over the past year.

"We are so lucky in Battle. We have the dedicated volunteers of Beautiful Battle, the neighbourhood community leaders, the town council's grounds maintenance stalwarts, together with the 13 other individuals and groups who were awarded Certificates of Excellence by the judges, all working to achieve this wonderful result for the town."

Peter Holman, chairman of South and South East in Bloom, said: "This was another fantastic year for the In Bloom competition.

"We are always staggered by the commitment that each community gives and this year was no exception.

"The awards continue to grow year after year, especially in the neighbourhoods category, which goes to show that there is an increasing interest in horticulture."

Andy Shaddick, Public Affairs Manager at Southern Water, which sponsored the event, said: "With so many entries, all making the best use of the resources available and particularly using water wisely, we are again very proud to be involved with South and South East in Bloom. Congratulations to all the entrants and winners on their success."