VISITORS to the twin Trimleys should be guaranteed a colourful welcome in future – thanks to efforts to make the villages' entrance road bloomin' beautiful.

VISITORS to the twin Trimleys should be guaranteed a colourful welcome in future – thanks to efforts to make the villages' entrance road bloomin' beautiful.

Fed up with the unkempt state of the litter-strewn street linking the High Road with the A14 interchange, villagers decided to draw up a scheme to make it attractive and which would also celebrate the Queen's golden jubilee.

Planting is now taking place on the special project, and more will be done in the autumn when hundreds of spring flowering bulbs are added.

While pleased with the first phase of the joint scheme, parish councillors from Trimley St Martin and Trimley St Mary had hoped to do more but the cost of the project proved to be more than anticipated.

They will look at extending it in future years, and are also hoping sponsorship can be found to help with the cost.

County councillor Patricia O'Brien gave the parish councils £8,000 of her locality budget towards the venture and it was suggested the route could be renamed Jubilee Way in honour of the Queen's 50 years on the throne.

Work is now well underway on planting and landscaping the roundabout in High Road and some beds will be created on the link road leading up to the junction.

Goslings Farm has agreed to maintain the roundabout to start the scheme, which needed a licence from the county council highways department which owns the verges and the roundabout.

Trimley St Mary Parish Council chairman Hazel Blackshaw said the original planting envisaged would have put the project "over budget".

She added: "We hope the work we are able to do now will make the entrance to the villages look a bit more attractive that it does at the moment."

The area being planted also benefits from a new footpath from the roundabout to the bus stop on the link road and the St Martin's Green housing estate.

Councillors' hopes included a wish to increase the number of times each season the grass is cut to create a nice greensward and discourage people from dumping rubbish on the roadside.