A POPULAR beauty spot has once again been nominated for an award.

The Halstead Public Gardens have been put forward for the UK's Best Park.

The competition sees members of the public vote on which park they think is the best in the country.

The nomination for the competition continues Halstead's successful 2017, after the town claimed gold at the Anglia in Bloom awards last month.

The Public Gardens was recently awarded heritage asset status by Braintree District Council and is now competing against hundreds of other parks across the country to be crowned the best.

Peter Nice, who helps maintain the Halstead Public Gardens along with a team of five other gardeners, admitted he was proud of the recognition.

He said: "Its a great honour and I am pleased we have been nominated.

"It's only a small team of us that help look after the garden and the whole town.

We spend a lot of time in the park and take great pride in the work we do on it.

"I'm there a lot of the time, especially in the lead up to the judging (for Anglia in Bloom).

"Sometimes we can spend all day in there."

Voting for the UK's Best Park competition opened on Monday and will close at 3pm on Friday, November 3.

The winner will be announced at the Fields in Trust Awards at Lord's Cricket Ground on Wednesday, November 29. To cast your vote, visit http://www.fieldsintrust.org/bestpark/eastofengland.