IT was a case of the early-bird catching the worm as a West Malvern resident waited patiently for an hour to be at the front of the queue for a competition organised by the Great Malvern Association of Traders (GMAT) and the Malvern Gazette.

As advertised in last week’s Gazette, GMAT offered 15 free Great Malvern Eco Bags - environmentally-friendly organic cotton carriers designed as the perfect accessory for shoppers - on a first-come, first-served basis to shoppers on Saturday morning (May 9).

As an added incentive the first bag was filled with a host of goodies and vouchers from town centre businesses.

The winner of the prizes was Amy Rainbow, who took up position outside Bahoo with a comfy cushion and a good book an hour before the store’s 9.30am opening time.

She is delighted with her bag and prizes, especially a voucher for an aromatherapy massage at the Centre for Wellbeing.

“The Eco Bag is really nice. I have a couple of environmentally-friendly bags already but I prefer this one because it is a good size and you can carry it over your shoulder,” she said. “It’s also good that it has the Malvern logo on it as it’s important that people are encouraged to shop locally and support their traders.

“I’ve been using it already as I actually spent the rest of Saturday morning going around the shops in the town centre.”