STRANGE otherworldly characters seem to have taken over the village of Bisterne.

Ghoulish characters hang from trees, a man with his head in the stocks stands forlorn beside the main highway showing how justice is meted out "Bisterne-style" and high on a gable end a man in red is scrabbling in through a window.

The occasion is the seventh annual Bisterne Scarecrow Festival.

Entries are up this year to a record 30-plus. There are 29 on the official festival trail leaflet - available at £1 a time from various scarecrows in and around the village, with proceeds going to village hall funds - but three or four extra have made an appearance overnight.

A gaggle of green aliens, Eileen Gowan's Unexpected Visitors entry, hang out behind her garden gate while at the front of her Dragon Cottages' home Worzel Gummidge is asking: "Which head shall I wear today, Aunt Sally?" He has four to try, all made by Mrs Gowan's grandchildren, Sam and Katie Mitchell.

And that's what is so great about this festival. Anyone, of any age, can enter.

Organiser and hall treasurer Jocelyn Gratwick had set up a complex scenario with her Midsomer Murders: the Cereal Killer Strikes Again entry, complete with pools of blood, a giveaway handprint and the evildoer escaping on the other side of the drive.

On the other hand there is Trevor the Tree Surgeon high in the branches of a pine up a narrow lane.

Best single entry was Flour Power from Sue and Keith Lucky, best pair and best overall was Cooee! outside Tina Stockley's home, best group was Mr Men at Boot Camp at Sandford while Igglepiggle at Greenacres Farmhouse got a special mention.