Winners of the Desford Scarecrow Festival

THOUSANDS of visitors from as far afield as the Cotswolds, South Wales and even Singapore soaked up the bank hoilday atmosphere at the first Desford scarecrow festival.

For three sunny days the village was buzzing with excitement as families enjoyed the scarecrow trail taking in 120 homes, church buildings and the village pub and more than 200 scarecrows.

Designs ranged from SpongeBob Squarepants to The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Baywatch and a terrifying Cyberman.

Every visitor was invited to vote on their favourite entries and the winners were announced in the grounds of Desford Church at the climax of the weekend.

Kate Twitchin, a member of the five-strong Scarecrew organising committee, said she had been amazed by the quality of each entry and the amount of effort everyone on the village went to.

The winners and runners-up in the three categories were: Best Scarecrow 1st place - Newbold Road’s Mary Poppins

2nd place - Harry Potter - which won votes despite being stolen early in the weekend

3rd place - The Wicked Witch in Norfolk Road Best kids scarecrow 1st place - Postman Pat and Jess 2nd place - Trolls 3rd place - Lego Batman Business/Community Group 1st place - The Church Choir at Desford Church

Posting on Facebook, winning scarecrow builder Robyn Wallace said: “Thank you to everyone who voted for Mary Poppins!

“What a wonderful event to be part of.

“Feeling very privileged to live in a village with such a great community spirit.

“Well done to everyone involved. Here’s to next year!”