A tense week of worrying about the changeable weather ended happily for this year's Slough Horticultural Show on Saturday as the sun shone all day at Lascelles Park.

The Mayor of Slough Councillor Avtar Kaur Cheema presented prizes accompanied by Norman Grundon, chairman of the famous recycling company.

Another visitor who made a big impression was Arbor the 18 ft tree puppet brought to life by theatre company Smoking Apples - sponsored by HOME Slough as part of the organisation's community festivals development programme.

As well as giving three performances throughout the day, Arbor could be found walking the park and was the subject of many selfies. As part of his main show Arbor encouraged the audience to plant and nurture their own trees, giving each person a sapling to take home, leaving a legacy that will last for generations.

Basil and Crew’s mobile farm, the fun fair and a small car racing track were massive hits with younger visitors, while Elite Drummers and 153 Squadron Air Cadets drew in a large crowd of all ages with their arena performances.

The Air Cadets also won the youth challenge for best scarecrow - by coming up with Simba from the Lion King.

There was a huge variety of stalls and a Second World War nostalgia tent manned by 'land girls' from that era.

A 1916 Pierce Arrow Model R Lorry exhibited by show sponsor Grundon was a great hit, while arts and craft activity stalls for the little ones were run by Antz Kidz.

Haley Baldwin, from Slough Allotment Federation, said: “I was so pleased to see so many people enjoying the show on Saturday. This is the culmination of months of hard work and it’s amazing to see all of the competition entries and the wide range of talented people we have in the local area.

“It was amazing to see the public's reaction to Arbor and so many new exhibitors and I really enjoyed seeing Datchet Border Morris perform. Thank you to everyone who contributed or entered the show and to all of the volunteers for giving their time both organising the show in the months beforehand, and on the day.”

There were lots of competitions to enter, from home grown produce and plants to baking, brewing, art, craft and photography. Competition entries were up 36 per cent on last year, with more residents becoming involved in each of the different categories.

The overall competition winners were: Best in Show - Nick Bird; most points horticultural classes - Autar Somal; best vegetable exhibit - Maxine Packer; Grundon Challenge Cup - Michaela Temple; highest number of points cookery - Gwenda Cornish; most points under 7yrs - Reuben Antao-Bento; most points 7 to 11years - Lily-May Wall; Herschel Challenge Cup - Rozina Khalid; Youth Challenge Best Scarecrow - 153 Squadron Air Cadets - with Simba from the Lion King.