Loughborough scooped a Gold Award & Category Winner in the Small City category at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain in Bloom National Awards for 2012

It follows a campaign launched four years ago by the Loughborough Echo to tackle what it called ‘Loughborough in Gloom’ and bring the RHS award to the town.

The announcement on Saturday night, at an event hosted by TV’s The One Show presenter Matt Baker, followed Loughborough’s Gold Medal award for the East Midlands last month.

Echo editor Andy Rush said: “This just goes to show the difference that a local newspaper can make to the community it serves.

“This is a huge part of what local newspapers are all about. Loughborough in Bloom came about on the back of lots of news stories with residents complaining about a lack of colour, rose beds being ripped up and grass cutting issues.

“We, as the town’s newspaper, decided to do something about it and now, we’ve been judged the best in Britain. It’s amazing how far we’ve come, from nothing, in just four years.

“I’d like to give special thanks to our Echo Bloom correspondent, Isaac Ashe who, over the past few years, has carried out brilliant work with all of the 100 plus community groups. He’s even taken on the role as secretary of the Community Participation Group. Grass roots journalism, literally!”