Residents brought the magic of the movies alive to their villages with scarecrows.

The annual Loders and Uploders Scarecrow Festival came to life thanks to popular characters from the movies popping up in the two villages.

Entries included ET, Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain, Yoda, Spider-Man, Mary Poppins and many more.

Organiser Rachel Dunn, who organises it with Louise Peraux, said: "This is our seventh Scarecrow Festival and each year we agree on a theme which may be topical or just something which we think is a good idea.

"This year we agreed on 'The Movies'."

"We start by putting posters up around the village as a 'heads-up' and then about six weeks before the festival we put an entry through each door."

This year saw 50 entries in total, the highest yet, with Rachel and Louise making a Harry Potter themed scarecrow.

Jane Pickles who visited the festival, said: "I found the displays clever, charming, irreverent and great fun.

"Highly recommended, with the added bonus of a stroll through two of the prettiest villages in the UK."

For those that walked around to view the masterpieces, refreshments were provided at a pop-up café at Uploders Methodist Chapel.

Peter Clark, who photographed a lot of the entries, said: "The cakes were to die for."

Residents and visitors could vote for their favourite scarecrow, with votes open from the start of the festival (Saturday, May 19) until Saturday, May 26.

Votes could be cast either at the Crown Inn or at the Loders Arms or left in boxes in the phone boxes in Uploders and Loders.

The results were announced at a BBQ at the Crown Inn on Sunday, May 27, where this year's winner was announced.

The winner of the competition was Rosemary Davies, whose Chicken Run themed piece was awarded the best scarecrow title.

As well as the glory of being named best, there was also a cash prize for the winner.

The residents of Purbeck Close also received a special community award, as they managed to recreate between them most of the characters from Toy Story.

Rachel said: "We were thrilled with the amount of entries and the standard of scarecrows has been amazing."

Each year there is a different theme for scarecrows, with each entry costing £1, with residents taking part just for fun with prizes up for grabs.

Last year saw the competitors make scarecrows based on book characters, with Maggie Stones claiming the crown for best for her detailed Gulliver's Travels scarecrow.

The scarecrows will remained in place across the two villages until Sunday, June 3.