Now, after months of planning, and a monumental effort to spruce up Aylesbury, all the town can do now is wait.

Judges from the annual Britain in Bloom competition visited last week, but their verdict on the town's attractiveness won't be announced until early September, during a glitzy Oscars style ceremony in Milton Keynes.

It has been an exhausting last few weeks for the people behind Aylesbury's entry, headed by the town council.

Efforts to get the place looking beautiful have included the planting of 50,000 daffodil bulbs, installing 60 roadside planters around the inner relief road, putting up more than 350 hanging baskets, and recreating the synonomous Aylesbury Duck in a floral display on the landmark Exchange Street roundabout.

Keith Turner, environmental officer at ATC, said he is confident the judges, who were shown around more than 20 places in the town, from St Mary's Churchyard to Prebendal Avenue, will reward Aylesbury with its best score yet in its third year of taking part.

The town, like previous years, is in the 'small city' category in the Thames and Chilterns region, alongside Banbury and Bracknell, but all locations are marked on their individual merit, rather than in relation to their competitors.

The target this year is to win the coveted silver gilt award, which requires earning 150 points from a possible 200 - just six more than they got last year. 170 points would earn them gold.

"Considering the amount of additional work we have put in, I can't see why we can't get a silver gilt," said Mr Turner.

"When we first started three years ago it all seemed such an impossible task, now I think everybody has a confidence that we can do things very well."

Improvements for this year's entry included the town council spending £30,000 on the acquisition of 60 planters and 120 additional hanging baskets, and also for extra work on several roundabouts.

Judges were also given expert guided tours of various places in the town (AVDC's biodiversity officer Matthew Dood's talk on Riverside Walk was said to be a particular highlight), and £1,000 was spent on a professional looking brochure of Aylesbury.

Another key theme was bringing on board the district and county councils as partners to the town council.

Speaking during his visit on Wednesday, judge Peter Thompson said he had noticed the increased effort:

"There's certainly some areas which have improved.

"There's more flowers and the quality of the planting is better."

"I also think the town is cleaner this year," he added.

But despite the nervous anticipation of the results, Mr Turner stresses that the motivation for taking part in Britain in Bloom isn't about winning a certificate. Rather, he says, it is about making the town a better place to live and visit - which is especially important during the economic downturn currently being experienced.

How do you think Aylesbury will fare in the competition?

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