Tipton Cemetery is celebrating being awarded a Green Flag for the seventh year in a row.

Sandwell's Deputy Mayor Councillor Carol Goult and the council's Deputy Leader Councillor Syeda Khatun joined the Friends of Tipton Cemetery and council staff to raise the flag at the cemetery in Alexandra Road last week.

In partnership with the friends group, the council has delivered projects including a tribute garden commemorating 100 years since a Zeppelin raid on the town as well as creating a bog garden and a new peace garden.

Students from the nearby Q3 Academy joined guests to celebrate gaining Green Flag status - a national mark of quality for parks and green spaces in the UK awarded by Keep Britain Tidy. Pauline Hodgetts, chair of the friends group, said:

“We're all very proud of the work both the friends group and the council does to care for Tipton Cemetery. It's an important place for many people and we want it to be somewhere visitors can come to enjoy the pleasant and peaceful surroundings while remembering their loved ones.

"It's fabulous that we've also got young people from Q3 Academy involved in the friends group and they're also helping us to care for the cemetery."

Cllr Syeda Khatun added: "I am so pleased to see the work and care that goes into looking after Tipton Cemetery. The high standards recognised by the Green Flag are a tribute to the hard work of our staff and volunteers from the friends group who strive to keep it looking good for visitors."

The Green Flag Award is the benchmark national standard for publicly accessible parks and green spaces in the United Kingdom. The scheme was set up in 1996 to recognise and reward green spaces in England and Wales that meet laid down high standards.