Menston is being urged to cultivate an entry for next year's Yorkshire in Bloom competition.

David Nerurkar, who has lived in the village since 1970, wants to make Menston more attractive and he believes following in the footsteps of local "In Bloom" towns and villages like Ilkley, Guiseley and Addingham is the way to go about it.

He said: "We have a lovely little village, why is that Menston is not doing something similar?

Mr Nerurkar is making an appeal for volunteers to help organise the event and he will be given a few minutes to talk about the topic at next Wednesday's village forum.

He said: "We have to start from the bottom up, rather than the top down.

"It has to get a lot of help from the people of Menston. That's the only way it will work."

After speaking with organisers of Addingham in Bloom and Guiseley in Bloom, he said both were dependant on volunteers.

Mr Nerurkar would like to meet with some volunteers as soon as March and he hopes a committee will be set up that is responsible for the event.

The idea of Menston in Bloom was well received by Frank Robinson, chairman of Yorkshire in Bloom.

Mr Nerurkar said: "He was very enthusiastic about Menston entering the competition, but each particular town or village has a different category it can enter."

And Mr Nerurkar stressed that a number of things have to be taken into consideration, such as where to place hanging baskets and large beds of flowers.

"We need to find out what is best for Menston."

He said early planning is the key for competitions like Yorkshire in Bloom and he indicated Menston would not be able to enter this year because "a lot of spade work would have to done in a short period of time."

But so far, Mr Nerurkar said he has received a lot of support from the people of Menston and even the Bradford Metropolitan Dis-trict Council.

Mr Nerurkar and his wife Iris have enjoyed their life in Menston and have become "very attached" to the village.

Now he wants to do what he can to make it an even better place to live.

He said: "The main point of this is to make the village more attractive by making it a tidier, cleaner and nicer place for people to come."