VOLUNTEERS are pitting their wits, planting their bulbs and picking up litter to ensure their town is noticed.

The Cricklade Bloomers are working hard to ensure the North Wiltshire town blossoms in this year's Britain in Bloom competition, run by the Royal Horticultural Society.

Previously the town has walked away with top prizes for the south west region.

Now, for the first time, it is taking on other small towns nationally, facing competitors from Scotland to the Channel Islands.

Bloomers chairman Anita Barratt, a horticultural adviser and garden designer, said: "We have participated in the south west region competitions before and done extremely well taking gold but the national competition is a whole new ball game.

"It's hugely competitive and we have a lot of work to do before the judging begins in the spring. It isn't just about flowers and making the town look colourful - that only really represents about 30 per cent of the score.

"We also have to look at litter-picking campaigns, Agenda 21 initiatives, improving wildlife and removing graffiti, so there's a lot more work than simply gardening."

Anita and a band of 25 Bloomers will be working hard in the coming weeks.

Thousands of bulbs have been planted all over the town by youth groups, including Scouts and Guides and schoolchildren, and they are set to explode into colour in the coming weeks.

Other groups have prepared borders and built flower boxes, while others have started preparations for a wide-scale litter-picking operation.

"We know the judges will be in town between April and May, but we have no idea which part of the town they will look at so it's a big project for us all," said Anita.

"But it's not just volunteers - lots of people are getting involved. Some house owners take on responsibility for flower boxes outside their homes, pruning, watering and removing weeds, so it's a huge community effort."

This comes at a time when the Cricklade community is focused on preventing the closure of the town's leisure centre.

Anita said: "The loss of the leisure centre would be a huge blow to the town but also a blow to our Britain in Bloom bid because the work they did to look after the grounds has always been highly commended."

The town won gold last year in the regional contest, jointly with Dartmouth in Devon, giving it the chance to take part in the national competition.