A GARDEN centre has won a national award for the standard of its Christmas displays.

Bents Garden and Home overcame strong UK-wide competition to scoop the Garden Centre Association’s Best Christmas Display title following an extensive judging process.

Garden centres all over the country received spot visits from the GCA and were judged on their innovation, inspiration and the excitement created by the way Christmas products are displayed.

Bents’ managing director Matthew Bent says winning the coveted award is the perfect early Christmas present for the Glazebury garden centre celebrating its 80th anniversary.

“What a fantastic start to the festive season, especially in what is our 80th year,” he said.

“It is a great way to celebrate our anniversary.

“The title is a credit to all our Christmas colleagues who work extremely hard throughout the year to deliver a magical experience.

“Everything in our displays has been designed, created, fashioned, built and painted by our in-house team of experts, both on the shop floor and behind the scenes.

“We would like to say a big thank you to every one of them for their continued commitment to creating our spectacular displays.”

The family-owned and run centre on Warrington Road also holds the GCA’s Best Destination Garden Centre in the North West title having achieved one of the top audit scores in the country.

It has been shortlisted for the Best Destination Garden Centre in the UK award, with the winner announced at the GCA’s annual conference in January following a second round of auditing.