Bicester was given a splash of spring colour to remind people to take care of the elderly.

Staff at Age UK, in Deans Court, decked their shop windows in orange and yellow balloons, clothes and anything else they could lay their hands on to mark Bobble Day.

The annual Age UK initiative is part of the charity’s Spread the Warmth campaign. People were encouraged to buy colourful wool bobbles and take part in a tombola to raise extra funds for the charity.

Shop manager Irene Saleh, pictured, said: “The idea was to say to people, care for elderly people in your community.”

Paul Farthing, the charity’s fundraising director, said: “Bobble Day is a chance to have fun, but there is a serious issue at its heart.

“Two hundred older people die needlessly every day in winter due to the cold.”