A HOST of weird and wonderful scarecrows drew thousands of people to a north Lancashire village over the weekend.

A ‘Fantasy World’ theme for the 28th annual Wray Scarecrow Festival saw locals excel themselves with their life-sized creations.

Ex-straw-dinary residents on display in the Lune Valley village included Mary Poppins, E.T., Puff the Magic Dragon, The Gruffalo, and a recreation of the Mad Hatters’ Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland.

Scarecrows first cropped up at the festival from 1994 to promote the fair, and have become a popular draw of crowds in their own right, and one of the ‘cultural’ highlights of the Lune Valley’s calendar.

Throughout the week visitors were able to walk through the village and discover the creations.

The star prize for the scarecrows went to Keith and Judith Wilson, of Millhouses, for their ‘Scavatar’ display, although there was a delay in announcing the winners.

Organisers explained: “We had trouble tracking down and identifying the creators of Scavatar as it was on the allotments and we couldn't simply knock on the nearest door to identify ownership.”

Running from April 25 until May 4, the festival’s attractions this year included a 10 kilometre road race, car boot sale, vintage market, fun fair and fell race.

Entertainment on Bank Holiday Monday was provided by Richard Cookson, Head Falconer at Cuerden Birds of Prey, who put on an interactive display, Thomas Longton Esq and his sheepdogs, and a living history display from Croix du Nord living history society with their famous combat displays.

On Friday a 60-foot long Chinese Dragon, Samba band, warriors and giant scarecrows took to the streets for the parade.

But due to adverse weather the classic car event – scheduled to take place on Sunday - had to be cancelled.

The first man back in the fell race was Horwich's Michael Cayton while the first female over the line was Lancaster and Morecambe's Helen Ockenden.

Deborah Perrins, of the organising committee, said this year’s festival had been a big success, and had received plenty of good feedback from locals and visitors alike.

“The village was really heaving, and the weather stayed fine for most of it,” she said.