DOLLY-tubs and ration books will be to the fore in a tribute to the hard-working days of wartime austerity.

The Dig for Victory campaign will be recalled at this year’s Harrogate Spring Flower Show.

As part of the celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of VE Day a special 1940s-style allotment is being created by a team of experts.

Complete with Anderson shelter, rabbit run, and poultry ark, it will capture an era that saw allotments spring up on every spare patch of land.

It is being created by members of the Leeds and District Gardeners’ Federation who have scoured attics and sheds for original artefacts.

They have even researched the type of plants grown during the war, to ensure an authentic atmosphere for their allotment.

Show director Nick Smith said: “The Dig for Victory campaign inspired generations of grow-your-own gardeners and was a crucial part of the home front war effort, producing around ten per cent of the UK’s food.”

Other VE Day celebrations at the spring show include spectacular plant nursery displays with the theme “This is your hour,” paying tribute to the victory speech made by Winston Churchill.

Local schoolchildren will also be exhibiting their work as part of a challenge to choose a ration book recipe and grow the produce needed to make the dish.

The show, at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate runs from April 23 to 26. For details visit flowershow.org.uk