For the second year running, Itter Park in Walton has been awarded a prestigious Green Flag, the national standard for quality parks and green spaces. This complements the continued achievement of the city's Central Park which is continuing to bloom with its sixth Green Flag recognition in as many years.

Recreation manager for the city council Louise Wilcox described the awards as a fantastic achievement.

She said: "We are extremely proud that Central Park has received this prestigious award for the sixth year running and we are absolutely thrilled that Itter Park has been awarded a Green Flag for the second time."

The parks will now appear in a list of the top 740 green spaces in England, Scotland and Wales, which is compiled by the Civic Trust on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Both havens of tranquillity in the city met the award criteria that the sites must be freely accessible to the public, and provide a welcoming and well-managed space for their local community.

Central Park has welcomed thousands of visitors annually for more than a century and boasts a children's play area and paddling pool, aviary, tennis courts, bowling and putting greens and even has its own park ranger.

Ranger Mark Swift said it was great that the standard had been kept up over six years and says the success of the park is testimony to the council's hard work along with community support.

He said: "It's especially good as the weather has been against us this year but the public keep coming to visit us. The park is friendly and beautiful and people like getting away from it all.

The public treat the park like their own garden and will ring us if they see anything or someone up to no good. It shows how everyone works together to keep it nice."

The 14-acre Itter Park was recently thrust into the spotlight following a high-profile makeover by the BBC's Springwatch series.

Wildlife gardening experts from the hit TV show, and volunteers, worked side-by-side to transform part of the park's putting green into a natural pond and bog garden to attract wildlife, including frogs, newts, dragonflies and butterflies.

This underpinned the work done by the Friends of Itter Park to transform the area into a firm favourite within the community, which has seen residents flocking to visit the new and improved facilities.

Cabinet member for city services, Councillor David Sanders, added: "High quality parks are the jewels in the crown of any community where people can relax, exercise and play. The best thing of all is that they are free for everyone to use."