A bright green flag now flies high over Halesworth Town Park, marking it as one of the best in the country.

Beccles & Bungay Journal: The Green Flag flying high in Halesworth.The Green Flag flying high in Halesworth. (Image: ©archant2016)

A crowd of dozens of people gathered on Wednesday to watch the celebratory raising of the flag for the first time.

The town was awarded the Green Flag Award earlier this year - a prestigious recognition for meeting benchmark national standards for parks and green spaces in the UK.

Halesworth in Bloom entered the park for consideration for the first time, and the town council donated the money to buy a flagpole so that all visitors can enjoy the honorary flag.

“We give them financial and moral support,” said Anne Fleming, chairman of Halesworth Town Council.

“I think it’s just marvellous to see this happen. This is the first time we entered for the award and we thought we’d hear ‘yes, yes, maybe next year.’ We’re absolutely delighted at the result.”

The 3.5-acre park, which was created from land given by local residents or bought by the council, boosts clean facilities and landscaped grounds. It also has an active Friends group.

Gillian Coulsun, a supporter of Halesworth in Bloom, said: “Money was raised from bake sales and other fundraisers for all the benches, most of the play set and the skate park. The park is great for children but also for teenagers, which is something a lot of parks don’t have.”

Both councillors and supporters of Halesworth in Bloom alike are happy that the town is getting the recognition it deserves.

“The more we can put Halesworth on the map the better,” said councillor Sandra Leverett. “We want to keep supporting our independent market town.

“Anything we can do to bring Haleworth into the spotlight is great.”