PATRIOTIC floral displays on an Otley roundabout have clinched the title of best blooming roundabout in Leeds.

The Leeds Road roundabout, with its splendid Golden Jubilee themed display has wowed visitors and residents of the town for months - and now the efforts of the city council's parks department have seen it win the Leeds In Bloom Roundabout Award.

Meanwhile, Otley business Patisserie Viennoise was placed second in the small retail premises section for its display of hanging baskets and planters.

And Leeds Bradford International Airport was placed second in the Leeds wide competition and Moor Valley Leisure Park, Hawksworth was third in the same category - the large premises or business.

Trevor Backhouse, owner of Patisserie Viennoise in Westgate, has ten hanging baskets and two hay racks filled with flowers outside his shop.

He said: "It's lovely to receive an award, though I don't feel we did very much. The hanging baskets aren't expensive and are very easy to look after, I just water them once a day. I did think that overall Otley looked much better this year, and I think that's a lot to do with Sylvia Reid's Britain in Bloom initiative."

Mr Backhouse who is President of the Chamber of Trade and Commerce received an engraved glass vase and certificate from Leeds in Bloom.

For the Leeds Road roundabout the team of Leeds City Council parks department staff responsible for the planting was presented with the LIBRA award for the first year ever in the Leeds in Bloom Business competition.

Councillor Nigel Francis (Con, Otley and Wharfedale), who works at Pitts Garage in Leeds Road, close to the roundabout, said many people had commented about the floral displays on the roundabout.

"People have said to me how beautiful it looks. It's not its best now, but a month ago it was looking really good. There's a big union jack in the middle with several smaller ones on the outside."

Coun Francis said Otley was lucky to have a very hardworking band of gardeners from Leeds Parks Department.

"There's just a fraction of them compared to what there used to be and when you look at the roundabout and at Wharfemeadows Park, it just goes to show how dedicated they are."

Councillor Denise Atkinson, chairman of the Leeds Floral Initiative, said: "The hard work that's gone into creating and maintaining these displays has helped to make the city a brighter place."