Beautiful Scotland judges have a date with the city

A TEAM of judges are heading to the Capital to judge the city's appearance and cleanliness.

The judges from Beautiful Scotland are due to arrive on August 1 to take a close look at a series of sites including Princes Street Gardens, Duddingston, Holyrood Park and the Royal Botanic Garden.

They will be examining floral displays, sustainable development and biodiversity initiatives, as well as ensuring there is not too much litter, dog fouling, graffiti, fly-posting and weeds.

City leaders will find out if they are among this year's winners at a ceremony in St Andrews on September 25. Councillor Robert Aldridge, the city's environmental leader, said: "Edinburgh is a wonderful green city and I applaud the effort and imagination of our parks staff and other green-fingered participants in creating and maintaining beautiful displays."

Helen Darvill, team leader for volunteer campaigns at Keep Scotland Beautiful, which organises the Beautiful Scotland campaign, said: "Keep Scotland Beautiful would like to wish all the groups who have made it through to the Britain in Bloom 2011 finals, all the best of luck with the competition."