THE Old Railway Line Garden Centre, located in Three Cocks between Brecon and Hay-on-Wye, was awarded Best Customer Service in the UK last week by the Garden Centre Association.

The result was announced at the annual GCA conference dinner, which was held at the St Andrews Resort in Scotland, building on last year's successes including being named Best Garden Centre in Wales and the West for the fifth consecutive year.

Garden centre manager, Katie Eckley said; "To be awarded such a prestigious, national award by the GCA is a fantastic achievement for a family-run, independent garden centre of our size. We pride ourselves on offering our customers a personal and enjoyable experience; separating us from the large chains and big department stores.

"This award gives our staff the recognition they deserve and demonstrates their drive to 'go the extra mile' to make our customers' visits as pleasant as possible. This award really is the 'icing on the cake' after being awarded Best Garden Centre in Wales and the West for the 5th year running."

The GCA represents over 200 garden centres nationwide. The annual awards are decided by the results of the annual inspections, which take place at all GCA garden centres. Garden centres have no advance warning about when their inspection will take place and they do not have the option to turn away the inspector.

The award-winning, independent, family-run garden centre was established in 1990 by owners, Mark and Christina Cleary. It provides customers with quality plants, gardening products, indoor and outdoor living goods, pet care products and giftware.

The Old Railway Line is also home to a farm shop stocking products from over 60 local and Welsh suppliers and a 150 seater restaurant offering delicious home cooked food seven days a week.