South East in Bloom judges will be visiting Deal tomorrow (Friday) and one of the main attractions will be the Sandown Castle ruins.

The area in north Deal has been transformed into an attractive eye-catching summer flower display, thanks to the hard work of Sandown Castle Community Garden Group.

The group was set up by Linda and John Ford in January.

Mrs Ford said: “We were delighted to hear that the site was to be included as one of the entries representing Deal in the South East in Bloom competition.

“We spent many hours digging the flowerbeds in preparation for planting. The first initial dig took 12 weeks to complete and since then each bed was dug eight times until it was good enough to plant.

“Fortunately for us they still had good top soil in them from when they were previously planted up. We also cleared and tidied up the paved lower areas and paths.”

All the work has been carried out by volunteers and has been paid for mainly by visitors, residents and friends, including some from USA and Canada.

One neighbour has contributed by letting the group use his metered supply to water the flowers.

Deal won silver in the competition last year and has made no secret of its plans to gain gold this year.

Cllr Marlene Burnham will be showing the judges around.

She will also take them along the seafront to see the planters which have been paid for and planted by a number of groups and individuals including Bill Elliott for FOND, Tracy Carr for Talk it Out, Amber Blackwell for Dealec, Mathew and Jamie Culver from College road Fish and Chip shop, Cllr Marlene Burnham, Cllr Trevor Bond, Cllr Adrian Friend, Cllr Wayne Elliott, Tony Friend and Deal Town Council staff.

The group will then visit Hornbeam Primary School, the Landmark Centre garden and Deal Railway Station.

If you are a business or individual who would like to donate a raffle prize to help with the cost of Sandown Castle display or if you would like to be a volunteer gardener contact Linda and John on 07751 362949 or sandowncastle@hotmail.com