A SOCIALLY-distanced scarecrow festival is being held in Long Lee on Sunday September 6.

The annual event, organised by the Village Hall Committee, will run from 10am-4pm when residents can walk around the village to look at scarecrows in gardens.

The theme for this year is lockdown heroes. Programmes, maps and quizzes will tell people where to go to see the scarecrows.

They are available on the ‘Long Lee and Thwaites Brow Village Hall’ Facebook page at facebook.com/longleevillagehall, and some printed maps will be left outside the village hall on Sunday for people who are not online.

Village Hall Committee treasurer Craig Pullen said: “All entries should be submitted by the end of Thursday September 3. But you don’t have to enter a scarecrow to get involved - walk the route and marvel at how creative our residents are.

“People who follow the map and see all the scarecrows can vote for their favourite and the scarecrow with the most nominations will win a prize for its owner. We always get fantastic entries and we’re sure this year will be no different, despite the restrictions in place.

“We wanted to go ahead this year to keep up the spirits of the community. It’s all outdoors and we’re trusting people will adhere to social-distancing rules while they walk around the village.”

Keighley East district councillors Caroline Firth and Malcolm Slater are on the Village Hall Committee and support the scarecrow event every year.

They sent a letter to 600 homes in Long Lee to ask them to get behind it, and wrote: “Although we are not able to meet and take part in the same way this time around, we hope you will join us in enjoying the entries and raising money for the village hall.”

Call 07305 868797 for further information, visit the Village Hall page on Facebook, or email longleethwaitesvillagehall@gmail.com.

Type longlee-villagehall into the justgiving.com search box to donate towards the village hall.