VILLAGERS were being urged to make one more effort to put moorland Belmont on the map after winning through to the finals of Lancashire's Best Kept Village Competition.

The pretty village is just one step away from the prestigious title of best kept village in the small village class -- in its first year of entering.

It is now a head-to-head battle between Belmont, which nestles in the shadow of Winter Hill, and the village of Waddington in the Ribble Valley.

Organisers in Belmont believe that their village has a good chance because it is a newcomer.

But they say the picturesque Ribble Valley village will provide stiff opposition.

One of the organisers, Joan Rushton, said: "We are delighted that we have got this far. To get through to the last two is an achievement especially because it's the first time we have put ourselves forward. The village is trying hard and people have put a lot of effort in."

It is expected that the competition judge, the Rt Rev Alan Chesters, Bishop of Blackburn, will visit the village on either August 14 or 15 to make a final judgement.

The winners will be announced on September 9.

A record number of 128 villages entered this year's competition, including Chapeltown, Rivington and Adlington.

Today the judges from Tidy Britain were in Bolton to judge the Bolton in Bloom entries.

And the cups are being polished for the Horwich in Bloom Competition presentation day on Saturday, August 19. The ceremony will be at Horwich Resource Centre when the Mayor will make the presentations.

Those who have not been lucky so far can still be a winner. There are lots of competitions to enter on the day, including vase of home grown flowers, flowering plant and foliage plant. Children can enter the poster competition depicting Horwich in Bloom, garden on a plate and collage of favourite animals.