THE winners have been announced in this year's hotly contested annual battle to find the best gardens in the Winchester district.

The city council's Best Front Gardens competition, which attracts scores of entries each year, is only open to council tenants and sees the judging teams travel hundreds of miles, visiting dozens of gardens.

Alresford couple Bernie and Helen Sheppard of Mitford Road won this year's Best Front Garden prize after their garden was judged to be the best for it's immaculate grooming.

Bernie and Helen have lived in their home for 45 years and say they keep their display on top form by regular deadheading and lots of feeding.

Speaking after the results were announced, they said they were delighted to have won, but they don't do it to win, just for the sheer enjoyment of gardening.

Best Sheltered Scheme winner was Victoria House in Winchester city centre, where thanks to scheme manager Gloria Pike and her willing waterers, a gloriously colourful display has been sustained throughout the summer months to delight the 23 residents who love sitting in their sheltered courtyard garden.

Assistant managers Sally Dunn and Denise Stephens, along with four care assistants, water the blooms at this Extra Care scheme, which also boasts a scree garden and a massed planting of Japanese anemones.

The Best Hanging Basket Award went to 74-year-old Joan Sherfield of Long Priors, West Meon, who produced an incredible display of more than 50 hanging baskets crammed with beautiful fuchsias, geraniums and petunias.

The baskets are strung along the length of her home and take about an hour to water every day, a job that Joan says she enjoys and doesn't see as a chore.

A spokesman for the council said garden vouchers were now winging their way to all the winners with the hope that next year's event could be even better.