Community-spirited staff at a waste site pulled out all the stops for an In Bloom competition after suffering a vandalism attack.
The quick-thinking team blossomed into action when they arrived for work at the tip in Maltings Lane, Kirby, where they discovered a fire smouldering in a large skip used for cardboard recycling.
Vandals had got into the site overnight by cutting through the chain link fencing.
The tip and the lane were closed as the firefighters damped down the cardboard and the men then got to work with their brooms to spruce up the site before the arrival of the judges.
The tip re-opened at 1.30pm with the judges on site at 4pm to inspect the tip's special garden area and their scarecrow, Kevin, who had failed in his duty as nightwatchman.
Brenda Robson, secretary of the village In Bloom committee, praised the tip attendants saying everything was "ready in the nick of time".
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