Aberdeen City Council's ground maintenance team has been named the most improved performer in the UK for parks, open spaces and horticultural services at this year's Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) awards.

The APSE awards are the benchmark for excellence in public services in the UK, recognising the commitment of councils to deliver first-class services.

Aberdeen City Council's Housing and Environment Vice-Convener Councillor Jean Morrison and the Council's Head of Environment Service Mark Reilly collected the prize at a ceremony in Blackpool.

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Commenting on the award, Councillor Morrison said: "Aberdeen's parks and open spaces are maintained to a high level by an extremely able and dedicated team who often have to work in challenging conditions and sometimes with limited resources at their disposal.

"Their duties go far beyond just cutting grass and removing weeds and they are responsible for the upkeep, maintenance and improvement of eight million square metres of green space in the city.

"They carry out their work diligently with the interests of the whole city at the front of their minds at all times. They are also a very specialist and experienced team who can provide external advice to the public and businesses on all aspects of horticulture.

"APSE award nominees are recognised through a benchmarking exercise that all UK local authorities take part in so for our ground maintenance team to win is rightly-deserved recognition for their consistent and continued hard work."

(JP/IT)