Staining Scarecrow Festival competition ends in tie for first time in nine year history

The West family’s Big Friendly Giant scarecrow tied with the Limon family’s Spiderman for the number one spot last week, following a week of voting.

Councillor John Singleton said: “It’s quite a secretive competition. No one wants to show their scarecrow until the day they all go out, and so it’s kept under wraps. It’s a good chatting point, and it’s nice to see all the people walking around the village voting for their favourites.

"The joint winners got 90 votes each. I have to say my favourite was the Big Friendly Giant. I thought that it clearly took some time to put together, and it's the second time the Wests have won.

"As well as the BFG, there was Spiderman hanging from a roof, a man standing on his head in the middle of a garden, there was a witch in a tree on a broom, and there were some gardeners doing some gardening."

Event organiser and Staining Parish councillor Trish Crain said: "There was a great variety of entries spread throughout the village. We had 20 registered entries, but there were some around that weren't registered. In all I'd say we had about 25 scarecrows.

"It gives an opportunity for people to walk around the village and see bits and pieces that they woudn't normally see. We had a very nice, dry weekend, so it was a perfect time for families to get together and have a walk."