PUPILS, families and teachers are getting ready for the popular annual Colmer's Hill Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday.

Organised by the Friends of Symondsbury Primary School the traditional event opens at 10am at the school with egg hunters being released onto the hill at 10.30am.

For a £1.50 entry fee, each egg hunter can win a range of chocolate rewards, including the top golden prize of a large Easter egg.

With hill marshals on hand to help, including the elusive Easter rabbit who is bound to make an appearance, the event is open to all ages, though only guide dogs are permitted onto the hill during the egg hunt.

Prizes can be found at all levels on the hill, so scaling to the top of this local landmark isn't necessary, though lots of egg hunters like to make it there to enjoy the views.

The school will be providing lots of seasonal refreshments, including hot cross buns, and there will also be the draw of a grand Easter raffle with prizes including £100 cash, donated by Parkers, a filled Golden Egg courtesy of the Symondsbury Store and a cream tea at the Bull hotel.

Chairman of the Friends of Symondsbury Primary School, Cat Woolner, said: "We would like to thank all the wonderful local businesses who are supporting our egg hunt and grand Easter raffle this year including Groves who have helped us to sell raffle tickets and Morrisons who have donated some of the much needed chocolate supplies.

"This is such a fun event and a very popular way to spend Easter Sunday morning - fresh air, glorious countryside and lots of chocolate goodies.

"We would particularly like to thank Symondsbury Estate who allow the school to use Colmer's Hill and who offer the use of their car park at the manor yard. And, of course, all our wonderful volunteers who work so hard to make this a real high point in the school calendar."

This year the egg hunt will be raising money to put towards a major refurbishment of the school playground.

Head teacher Emma Roberts said: "The egg hunt is such a proud day for the school as we can share the wonderful landscape of Colmer's Hill with all the intrepid egg hunters and show off the incredible landscape that we are lucky to enjoy everyday at Symondsbury Primary.

"However, even with such a wonderful natural classroom on our doorstep we are also keen to improve our on-site outdoor facilities and this year we hope to raise a substantial sum to upgrade our hard surface playground. The pupils will be involved in the design of the space and the selection of equipment and facilities, while Governors are very supportive of the project due to our desire to provide the very highest standards of health and safety, as well as versatile outdoor learning experiences, as possible."