HANSEL and Gretal and the Three Blind Mice were among characters on show in Trawden gardens at the weekend.

Wee Willie Winkie and the Mad Hatter also made appearances.

Visitors descended on the village for the annual Garden Festival and Scarecrow Trail, one of the most popular tourism events on the Pendle calendar. The festival and trail has run for several years and this year was themed on fairytales and nursery rhymes.

Villagers spent days preparing the scarecrows in their gardens with residents vying to come up with the best ideas.

Visitors said it was the festival was the best yet.

As well as a scarecrow trail for visitors winding through the village, the event also included many excellent open gardens.

Maureen Askew, chairperson of the organising committee, said: “It has gone really well and we’ve had some really fantastic scarecrows. There’s a really good community spirit. Saturday was a beautiful day and we had lots of visitors and even yesterday, when it was a bit windy, it was still very popular.

“The children also loved the face painting and had a bouncy castle.”