MONMOUTHSHIRE is blooming at the moment, with three buildings winning Wales in Bloom prizes.

Usk Police Station, the Wye Valley Hotel and Usk Church in Wales Primary School have all won in their categories in this year's Wales in Bloom Competition.

Usk police station won best public building, The Wye Valley Hotel, Tintern, won best frontage in the hotels, guest houses and restaurants section and Usk Church in Wales Primary School won the best schools' gardening programme.

Barry Cooke, owner and manager of The Wye Valley Hotel, said it was the first time they had entered.

He said: "We are really pleased to win. We have year-round flowers and people always comment on the displays."

The judge commented that the display at the Wye Valley Hotel was spectacular, with a considerable impact.

Mr Cooke said that he and his wife, Sue, would probably be entering the competition again next year.

Sergeant Huw Jones, from Usk police station, said they were pleased to have been announced winners in the public building category.

He said: "We are very pleased a lot of effort was made into making sure the flowers are looking their best at all times.

"We get a lot of help from the public in doing that to help maintain the display.

"All the shops down the main street have hanging baskets and flowers, and with our flowers it blends in with the rest of the community, and is part of that community spirit."

Runners-up in the Wales in Bloom competition included the University of Wales Caerleon campus, which came joint second in the Public Building category.

Bettws' sensory garden came second in the Community Environment category.

Edna Evans, chairwoman and founder member of Bettws in Bloom, said she and other members were thrilled with the win, which comes just three months after they were investigated over false allegations that they used their resources to back Independent candidates in the recent elections. Mrs Evans said: "It makes the hard work worth while when something great like this happens. We can celebrate the win now. We had a terrible time but the people were great."

St Julian's Allotments came second in the Allotments category, while Daisy Chain florists, Tredegar, came second in the commercial and retail category.

The winners and runners- up will be presented with their awards in Usk on September 17, when towns and cities will discover if they have been successful in the competition