VILLAGERS are facing a nail-biting time as they wait to hear whether their entry in the Britain in Bloom finals has been successful.

Appleton Wiske, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, is one of only three villages in the country to reach the finals in its category in the Royal Horticultural Society competition.

And in a fortunate break in the otherwise wet weather, judges Bob Sweet and Ian Wilson visited this week for a closer look.

Mr Sweet is chairman of this year's panel of judges and is also involved with Chelsea Flower Show. Mr Wilson is an experienced judge, who is also a member of the team that has won Ulster in Bloom, Britain in Bloom and Entente Floriale competitions.

Appleton Wiske is taking on Scarva, in Northern Ireland, and Hawkshead, in Cumbria, in the final.

Mr Sweet said: "To have reached the final three in the competition is an excellent result in itself."

All the entries are judged against a standard for each of the medals available -gold, silver gilt, silver and bronze.

Mr Wilson said: "A gold medal is extremely difficult to achieve. Last year, from 1,400 entries and 63 finalists, only six gold medals were awarded."

Appleton Wiske first reached the finals in 2002 and won a silver medal.

Appleton in Bloom committee chairman Derek Partington said: "This year's judging criteria are more diverse than ever, but we believe that with just about the whole of the village behind us, we should score heavily in each category and, hopefully, gain a gold medal."

As well as coming under scrutiny by the judges, the village was also filmed by a crew from BBC TV's Gardener's World, which is producing a programme to be shown at the start of October.