THE team who judge the prize no town wants to win - the infamous Carbuncle Award - were in New Cumnock this week.
And ominously they say that it has taken "one step forward and two backwards" since their last visit.
New Cumnock was last nominated for the award, popularly known as "The Plook on the Plinth" in 2009 and is again up for the gong this year.
The competition is run by architecture magazine Urban Realm and New Cumnock will be going up against a number of other strong contenders, including a number of other Ayrshire towns such as Beith, Newmilns, Ayr and Girvan.
The town was nominated for the award by a Jonathan Wood who said: "Pubs and shops boarded up. Looks as though stuck in a time warp to when the town lost its industrial heart, the mines. Very sad.."
The judges went for a stroll around the town on Monday, February 4 to see what has changed since there last visit when judging the 2009 competition.
For the full story see this week's Chronicle.
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