A FORMER West Dorset student has become the youngest person ever to scoop a gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Hugo Bugg, 27, who used to live in Trinity Hill, Axminster, went to school at Mrs Ethelston’s Primary School in Uplyme and Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis, before going on to study garden design at Falmouth University.

To create the award-winning garden, Hugo worked alongside Dave Aplin from Maiden Newton, who took the role as plants advisor.

Hugo said that scooping the award was ‘fantastic’.

He added: “You dream about winning gold and work building, designing and all of that – but to actually win it was out of this world.

“Creating the garden was a real team effort; I couldn’t have done it without all my suppliers and everyone who helped out.

“My brother played a big part in helping me with the design and my mum and dad were always there to help too.”

Hugo’s entry in the prestigious show was an environmentally-friendly garden for the Royal Bank of Canada.

The garden demonstrated the methods in which gardeners at home can conserve and use storm water across the year and highlighted global water issues.

Mr Aplin, 43, works as a consultant for the international botanical gardens and runs his own company Botanical Values.

He said: “I had worked with Hugo beforehand on various projects and he needed someone with botanical and ecological experience – so I was happy to help out.

“It’s fantastic that Hugo has won gold, he really is one of the leading landscape designers in the country.

“I visited the show in Chelsea and his garden was head and shoulders above the rest.

“Himilayan Landscapes, based in Yeovil, also played a big part in helping out - so the garden really has been an effort from so many across the South West.”

Hugo founded Hugo Bugg Landscapes in 2008 after graduating with a First Class Honours Degree in Garden Design – and now works in Exeter.

In the past, he has scooped gold medals from the Royal Horticultural Society as well as being crowned Young Garden Designer of the year in 2010.

Other previous projects include private gardens in Dorset, Devon and Cornwall as well as rooftop gardens in London and a public garden in Italy.