THE group behind Leominster's floral displays has been honoured with the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

Leominster in Bloom work with a variety of different groups to improve the look of the town, and two lucky representatives were excited to go to Buckingham Palace in May to pick up their award.

The charity is just one of 281 to pick up the award this year, and said the number of nominations and awards has increased year on year since the awards were introduced in 2002, which shows the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to make life better for those around them.

Gillian Ding manages the town's tourist information centre and she said it was hard to keep the news quiet before it was made public.

She said: "Two of us went down and represented the group, but we had to keep in quiet as it hadn't been announced yet.

"It was fantastic, we are only one of thousands who put in hours across the country. It was really exciting and enjoyable. We saw Her Majesty and Prince William from a distance across about 15 rows of people.

"It will be Lady Darnley who will present the actual award to us later in the summer."

The charity are just putting the finishing touches to their latest display, as they have worked with local groups to create knitted flowers for the Library Mews to create a stunning display.

Created in 2002, the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities.

They include volunteers helping people overcome mental health problems through sport, volunteers using caravans as mobile cafes and information centres in geographically remote locations and another group mentoring children who have a parent in prison.

Chairman Geoffrey Crofts added: "The award is a wonderful achievement for the whole town, and anyone who has ever contributed in any way to the work of Leominster in Bloom should feel very proud.

"The committee is the driving force behind the project each year, but it simply would not work without the hours of dedication put in by so many other volunteers in the town.

"This is truly a 'Team Leominster' effort and should be enjoyed by each and every one of us."

Last year the town won a gold award for their floral efforts the Heart of England in Bloom competition, and if they were to retain the award this year Gill Ding said it would be 'the feather in the cap'.