THE co-founder of award-winning gardening social enterprise Waveney Mow & Grow has been suspended pending an internal investigation.Trevor Lynn, chief executive of the Lowestoft-based organisation, which offers low-cost gardening to vulnerable people including the elderly and low income families, has been removed from the post while inquiries continue, officials have confirmed.

THE co-founder of award-winning gardening social enterprise Waveney Mow & Grow has been suspended pending an internal investigation.

Trevor Lynn, chief executive of the Lowestoft-based organisation, which offers low-cost gardening to vulnerable people including the elderly and low income families, has been removed from the post while inquiries continue, officials have confirmed.

Mow & Grow, which also helps ex-offenders, the unemployed, homeless people and those with mental health issues gain qualifications and get into work, is the social enterprise arm of the Grow Organisation, from which Mr Lynn has also been suspended in his role as co-director.

Bosses were unable to confirm the grounds for the suspension while the investigation was in progress, but said it was not connected to 'financial issues' and said the probe was set to conclude in the coming weeks.

Mow & Grow was launched about four years ago by Mr Lynn and is based at Rotterdam Road, Lowestoft. Schemes operate in Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, and last year the group announced plans to expand into Buckinghamshire, Lincoln-shire and Nottinghamshire.

In October last year Mow & Grow was also awarded a �200,000 loan by Big Issue Invest to enable it to start work on a �4m government contract and expand its gardening scheme to help 1,200 long-term unemployed people into work.

Both Mow & Grow and the Grow Organisation continue to trade as normal while the inquiry is carried out.

Chris Ashworth, chairman of the Grow Organisation board, said: 'The Grow Organisation UK and Waveney Mow & Grow confirm that Trevor Lynn has been suspended from the organisations pending the results of an investigation into internal matters, which is expected to be completed in the next few weeks.

'The investigation is not connected with any financial issues and both companies continue to operate successfully, unaffected by the suspension or matters under investigation.'

Mr Lynn was unavailable to comment.

Last year Mow & Grow received a string of awards including the Norfolk Waste Partnership Award 2009 and the High Sheriff Crime Beat Award.