DELIGHTED Chris Leigh-Walker is celebrating after winning a coveted gold medal for her bonsai garden at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Chris, of Lower Road, Hockley, is particularly delighted as she nearly pulled out of the show because of a shoulder injury.

Bonsai trees are grown in a stunted form and unusual shapes. In Chelsea, Chris used English trees such as hawthorn. The mother-of-two said friends rallied around to help when she hurt her shoulder.

She said: “It was absolutely wonderful. It’s a privilege to be at Chelsea anyway and you have to come up to a certain mark to exhibit there.

“I had to build the stand myself, but because of my shoulder everyone rallied round and helped me. I can’t get across to the people who helped me how much I appreciate it. I couldn’t have done it without them.

“We used native trees that had been left in a skip or on a bonfire, 75 per cent of my display was recycled.”

But Chris had to overcome a big problem when a hawthorn came out in flower two weeks before the show.

She said: “I had to rally round to find someone with a big enough fridge to hold my trees. Eventually I found a florist in Benfleet.

“I can’t thank them enough, on the day they were all out in flower. It was absolutely perfect.”