AN EAST Lothian garden centre has scooped a prestigious award at a glittering ceremony.

Merryhatton Garden Centre, near East Fortune, has been named the Greatest Garden Centre Team in Scotland.

The accolade was presented at the annual Greatest Awards, organised by Garden Trade News and involving hundreds of garden centres across the UK, held at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.

The event was attended by about 250 garden centre staff from across the UK, and hosted by celebrity TV gardener Diarmuid Gavin.

Six awards are made each year in the Greatest Garden Centre Team category, with only one being presented to a team from Scotland.

The garden centres are judged by the public, with customers having to vote for their favourite.

Merryhatton received the most votes from all the participating garden centres in Scotland to scoop the national award.

The garden centre’s owner, Helen MacDonald, was thrilled that she and her team had won the award.

“Receiving any award is wonderful but there’s something extra special about this kind of award, which is based on what customers think of us,” she said.

“We’ve been able to see the comments customers made when voting for us and are absolutely delighted at what they’ve said.

“They highlighted the warm, friendly welcome they feel they receive at Merryhatton, our expert advice, high standard of customer service, and our range of quality products.

“All of these are areas we’ve been working to develop at Merryhatton, so it’s great to hear that our customers really value all the improvements we’ve made.” Merryhatton was also Highly Commended in the Top of the Pots category at the awards, for encouraging people to try their hand at gardening by planting a pot.

This included a recent primary school gardening competition which drew in entries from children across East Lothian.