Early feedback from South Kesteven District Council's Best Kept Village judging confirms that the district's rural communities are in fine shape.

More than 100 villages and hamlets have now been visited as part of this year's competition, with results due to be announced in September.

The council's own staff have been joined by representatives from the Gardens Trust and the Royal Horticultural Society to look at the condition of village facilities and evidence of community pride.

Cllr Dr Peter Moseley, SKDC Cabinet Member for Commercial and Operations said: "I am delighted to get reports and pictures back from the judging team showing just how beautiful the district is looking. One silver lining of the Coronavirus crisis is the time it has given people to get into their gardens, to great effect.

"As we move through the council's COVID-19 recovery and re-start phases, it's really encouraging to see our district emerging in such good health. It's going to be a tough job picking winners this year and we must thank all those people whose community pride shines through in the way our villages and settlements are being kept in such good order.

"Our detailed reports will provide us with a valuable indicator of where to focus the work of our Big Clean team. We will be analysing details of where attention is needed, allowing our teams to clean up problem areas and helping improve communities."

Unlike in previous years, all district villages with populations under 5,000 were automatically entered and assessed in secret shopper style.

The competition has divided into two categories of small villages, with populations between 100 and 500, and larger communities, with populations between 501 and 5,000.

SKDC will be awarding cash prizes for first, second and third in each category (£400, £300 and £200) and have assessed:

Condition of roadside seats, litter bins, paths and information signs

Sense of community pride and ownership, floral features, condition of focal points and village hall/community centres