THIS year a record-breaking 1,701 parks and green spaces were awarded the prestigious, international Green Flag Award. View the winners at: greenflagaward.org .

Everyone knows how much parks mean to people and now the annual People’s Choice award is now open, giving the public a chance to vote for their favourite.

Whether it’s a small local park, a large municipal park or a community garden – as long as it’s a Green Flag Award winner you can vote for it.

But there is a difference this year as it is the 20th year of the Green Flag Award. There won’t be one overall winner, there will be a top 10 voted by the public.

The vote line opened on Thursday, September 1 and will close at noon on Friday, September 30.

The 10 most popular parks and green space in the UK will be announced in October.

To vote, simply go to: www.greenflagaward.org , select your county or region on the interactive map, find your favourite park or green space, click on more details and click the "vote for this site" button.

Paul Todd, Green Flag Award manager said: “We all have a favourite park, whether it’s our local green space or a special park we’ll travel miles to visit.

“Following another record-breaking year for the Green Flag Award, we are urging everyone to vote for their own favourite park, so we can put together a list of the 10 most popular parks in the UK. It will be great to celebrate 10 of the public’s favourite parks and for them to become the People’s Choice 2016.”

All Green Flag Award-winning sites are entered into the annual People’s Choice Award vote. Last year saw more than 30,000 votes from the public, with Victoria Park in London’s Tower Hamlets crowned as the People’s Choice.

The Green Flag Awards Scheme is run by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, under licence from the Department of Communities and Local Government, in partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful, Keep Wales Tidy and Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens and the National Housing Federation.

First launched in 1996, the Green Flag Award recognises and rewards the UK’s best parks and green spaces.

Alan Quick