This is the very special reason we should be proud of our parks in Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes' entire network of parks has won a top national award for the seventh year in a row.

This week the parks have once again been granted the prestigious Green Flag Award – an accolade that sets the high benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the world..

The award scheme is managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the government’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

One MK green space, Great Linford Manor Park has also achieved the Green Heritage Site Accreditation award for the second consecutive year for its historic features.

This accreditation is specific to places of physical, social and cultural historic interest where efforts have been made to preserve, develop and share that history with visitors.

A £2m National Lottery-funded scheme to restore Great Linford Manor Park was completed last year after two years of hard work. The area has a limestone bedrock that dates back 166 million years to the Middle Jurassic period - a time when dinosaurs were still around –and is rich in fossils.

All the parks in MK are managed by The Parks Trust. Their operations manager James Cairncross said: "It’s always a privilege to receive the Green Flag Award as this recognises the hard work our team, volunteers and contractors undertake to ensure that our parkland and greenspaces are maintained to a high standard and are enjoyable for the residents of Milton Keynes.

"We are also delighted to again have received the Green Heritage Site Accreditation for our newly restored park at Great Linford Manor Park"