Bloom contest gold hopes

The seaside spot won the silver gilt award in the Coastal Town category in the 2008 competition, and this year will compete in the Small Town section.

Whitehead has previously enjoyed success in last year’s Ulster in Bloom contest, along with Carrick which has an entry in the Britain in Bloom Large Town category.

Welcoming the news was Bill Pollock of gardening group Brighter Whitehead. “It’s a very prestigious award so it’s an honour to be nominated. It’s still early days but our volunteers will be striving to gain an award again this year and will hopefully have something new to display by the time the judging takes place in July and August,” he said.