THE Yorkshire in Bloom committee in Addingham this week threatened to pull out of the competition after coming bottom in this year's spring judging round.

In the small country town category of the competition, Addingham was placed 14th with Pateley Bridge placed at the top.

Addingham in Bloom committee member Pam Boulton said mortified members - used to seeing the village in the top five - were seriously considering withdrawing from the competition.

Mrs Boulton said: "I just don't know what happened to have plummeted from where we were to rock bottom. We could not have become so bad so suddenly.

"I am querying the judgment of the judges to be honest."

One of the criticisms levelled at the village in the judges' report was the lack of involvement of local children.

But Mrs Boulton explained that because of the disruption caused by the Bradford schools shake-up, members of the committee wanted to give the new primary school staff and children some breathing space early this year without adding to their burden by asking them to help.

She said this one-off situation was explained to the judge when the judging took place, but does not seem to have been taken into account.

Mrs Boulton said that the judge seemed to have included personal likes and dislikes, rather than using objective criteria to award points.

"The judge did not like the library garden. It had been a wet year but she said she did not like that sort of garden anyway," said Mrs Boulton.

The judge also criticised leaf litter being left on gardens but Mrs Boulton said this was the first time this had been mentioned in competition judging criteria.

She added: "We are going to have to make up our minds whether it is worth entering in the future - we feel disheartened.

"I am going to write to them because we can't have been so bad even if we had swept litter up and down the streets."

The committee has already entered for the summer judging round of the competition but it could be the last time the judges are invited to visit the village.

Mrs Bolton said: "We thought we had done a great job but she did not listen. It is not sour grapes, but we are seriously considering whether to bother at all next year.

"To have put in all that hard work and then come bottom - it is very unjust to depend on the whims and fancies of one judge."

Mrs Boulton praised everyone in the village who had contributed to the effort and said that Bradford Council had also been a great help.

Craven district councillor and Addingham resident David Harrison (Con) said he was surprised at the result after all the hard work put in by villagers and the Addingham in Bloom committee.

"If they don't like us, they don't like us, but I would rather live in Addingham than the place which won it," Coun Harrison said.

This year Ilkley came fourth in the town category in the spring judging.

The winner was Todmorden and Wetherby and Ripon were also above Ilkley, which came top last year. There were 12 other towns in the category.

Tony Gilroy, of the Ilkley in Bloom Committee, said that competition had been very fierce and last year Ilkley won it with 177 but one point lost this year to 176 resulted in a drop of three places.

According to the judges: "The Ilkley in Bloom committee continues to go from strength to strength.

"The partnership approach embracing the local community, businesses, and the local authority should be commended.

"It was unfortunate that at the time of judging the bedding plants around the town were not at their best.

"All concerned should be congratulated for a most impressive effort."

Mr Gilroy paid tribute to the work of committee members, volunteers and Ilkley's gardeners along with many residents who ensured that the town looked as good as was possible on the day.

"There was no finer accolade than the comments of the judges on the town of Ilkley," said Mr Gilroy.