A GARDEN co-created by an Earls Colne resident has won a gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Charles Hart was part of the Modern Slavery Team which designed a garden to celebrate the British parliament passing the Modern Slavery Act.

The aim of this garden, designed by Juliet Sargeant, is to raise public awareness of the modern slavery issue.

It displays a series of dark imposing locked doors which is symbolic of how modern slavery is hidden behind closed doors.

The bright front to the doors and colourful planting illustrate the ordinary streets where we live.

The darker centre to the garden hints at a hidden reality that people still being kept in captivity and forced to work, in every part of the UK today.

Hope is represented by the English oak tree that stands in the middle of the garden, and it was under such an oak that William Wilberforce stood when he dedicated his life to ending slavery in 1787.

The garden also launched a new introduction, the Modern Slavery Rose, developed by Dickson Nurseries, based in County Down Northern Ireland.

Mr Hart said: "On behalf of the whole team, we are so grateful to the RHS judges for awarding Juliet Sargeant's Modern Slavery Garden an RHS Gold Medal in the Fresh category on Tuesday.

"This is a great achievement.

"But we also hope this will be a gold medal for all those up and down the country who are held in slavery and for those who are working tirelessly to rescue them."

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 is designed to tackle slavery in the UK and consolidates previous offences relating to trafficking and slavery.

It received Royal Assent and became law on 26 March 2015.