An environmental charity has given four parks in Stevenage awards for being among Britain’s most well-managed, cleanest and safest.
Town Centre Gardens and Fairlands Valley, Hampson and Shephalbury parks were all given a Green Flag Award by the charity, Keeping Britain Tidy.
The news comes during Britain's annual Love Parks Week celebration - held between July 12 and July 21 - as a record breaking amount of the UK's green spaces have received awards.
In total, 1970 parks and green spaces across the UK have been awarded a Green Flag Award in 2019, which is 83 more than last year.
Councillor John Gardner, member for environment and regeneration at Stevenage Borough Council, was thrilled with the news.
He said: "In Stevenage, we have so many excellent green spaces for our residents and visitors to enjoy and we encourage everybody to visit them."
Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said:"We have awarded more Green Flags to parks and green spaces this year than ever before, which means beautiful, well-managed and peaceful spaces are accessible to more people than ever.
"The number of awards given out this year is a testament to the hard work and innovation displayed by many local authorities."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here