Darlington looked a picture yesterday for the arrival of the Britain in Bloom contest judges.

And the months of hard work by private companies, the council and, of course, residents may well blossom into a national award.

"I have been very impressed," said judge Doug Stacey after a morning touring the town.

"It's a lovely town, and obviously a great deal of that is because of the work of the bloom team, which has been a great community effort. It is good to see everybody playing a part in making the town attractive."

Mr Stacey and his colleague, Maurice Baren, were particularly taken by Darlington's mature trees in South Park and West Cemetery.

"But you can't afford to rest on your laurels because future generations need to benefit from the work of this generation, and so we thought the new Family Forest at South Park was very good," said Mr Stacey.

Naturally, he enthused about the town centre flowers.

"I will take away with me the colour provided by the flowers," he said. "There's an abundance of them, and it is lovely to see. The displays over the bus shelters are very attractive in design and very well complemented by the floral displays above them."

He was also taken by the town's roundabouts, which have been sponsored by local companies, including The Northern Echo.

"It must be a wonderful, and attractive, advertise-ment for them," he said.

Darlington is hoping to win the Small City award in the Britain in Bloom competition, which is run by the Tidy Britain Group.

The competition has been going for about 35 years and was imported from France, where it had been started on the orders of President Charles de Gaulle.

The two judges, who were municipal parks and recreation officers before retiring, and have 30 years of judging experience between them, also visited Saltburn, east Cleveland, and Northallerton, North Yorkshire, on Monday, which are both competing in the small towns category.

"The thing that struck us about Saltburn was how wonderful the railway station looked," said Mr Stacey.

"It gave a tremendous welcome to the town.

"At Northallerton, like Saltburn, we were greeted by a brass band and the impact of colour right down the main street was immense.

"Northallerton has had very bad flooding and then foot-and-mouth disease, which must have hindered their preparations, but they have overcome their problems well."

Darlington, Northallerton and Saltburn will have to wait until November to find out how they have fared.

But Mr Baren warned them that although this week's efforts were important, there was more to Britain in Bloom than a once-a-year display.

He said: "What is important is what will still be a good display in the months to come, and we try to get a feel of what a town is like - in particular its cleanliness - at other times of the year."

Mr Stacey highlighted how they were looking to see how much the communities were really involved.

"People sometimes feel powerless, that they can't change their environment, but Britain in Bloom, and these councils, shows everyone can play a part.

"With their own front gardens, and by keeping the place litter-free, they all contribute to their environment, and we all get the environment we deserve."