THATCHED cottages, rolling hills or a dawn mist could help snap happy residents capture the beauty of West Oxfordshire.

A competition to show off the beauty of the district is now open and the best images could be used to help attract tourists to the area.

The contest is run by West Oxfordshire District Council, which is looking for pictures of anything which represents the area or its residents.

Pictures can be of the district’s produce, wildlife, market towns or simply of people enjoying themselves in West Oxfordshire.

The person behind the winning photograph will receive a one-hour spa treatment for two, followed by dinner, at Witney Lakes Resort.

And a selection of the best pictures could be used by the council to promote the Oxfordshire Cotswolds to tourists.

Diane Blackwell, tourism development officer at the council, said: “We’re hoping to get those once-in-a-lifetime shots that people have, or a moment in time captured.

“We have a large library of images but there’s always room for fresh, new images – a different angle on a building, a view across the valley or autumn dawn mist.

“Everything and anything that shows our lovely area.”

It is the second year the competition has run and Ms Blackwell said she was impressed by the entrants last year.

She said: “The majority of them have been extremely good quality and quite a few really struck me. It’s getting the images you don’t usually see that have impressed me most, and the wildlife ones particularly.

“People have managed to capture so much that’s going on in the rural area.”

Richard Langridge, cabinet member for local economy and communities, said: “West Oxfordshire is a beautiful part of England and has lots to offer to visitors.

“We want photographs that really encapsulate this.

“We are also very grateful to Witney Lakes Resort for donating a great incentive for people to get involved.

“Our tourism team works very hard to promote the area and we already have more than four million visitors to the district every year.

“It is vital that we continue this work to not only maintain but hopefully increase tourism, as it is very important to our local economy.”

Anyone who lives in West Oxfordshire can take part in the competition, and entries must be in by Friday, April 29.

For details or an entry form, see oxfordshire cotswolds.org/photos or call 01993 861553.