An allotment site has done the double and been crowned best in the capital two years running.

Plot-holders at the Paddock Allotments in Raynes Park are celebrating after winning the honour at the London in Bloom awards, a year after first picking up the title.

Volunteers organise day trips and manage a horticultural shop at the Heath Drive site, which has 105 plots and about 400 members.

On September 16 Paddock allotment society chairman Jean Hancock was invited to City Hall, headquarters of London Mayor Boris Johnson and the London Assembly, where she was presented with the first-place certificate in the green organisation’s annual contest.

Mrs Hancock has had an allotment at the site for 14 years, and said that plot-holders kept it in tip-top condition.

She said: “If you look at some allotments they are very overgrown, but ours are all nice and well kept.” She also praised the community spirit at the allotments, and said everyone there would lend a hand if needed.