BAKERS and cake decorators have been invited to enter a competition to celebrate the gardener who designed Blenheim Palace's surroundings.

Capability Brown was instrumental in creating the famous gardens at the stately home near Woodstock as well as hundreds of other landscapes across England.

Now the Capability Brown Festival have launched the Brown's Birthday Cake competition to mark the 300th anniversary of his birth.

His exact birthday is not known but he was baptist in Kirkharle, Northumberland on August 30, 1716 so the competition winners will be announced on that date.

Anyone can take part and entrants are asked to share images of their cakes on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest using the hashtag #brownsbirthdaycake, or on Facebook by posting it to their main page.

The designs can be novel or serious and can focus on Brown or take inspiration from one of his landscapes or signature design features, such as a serpentine lake.

Prizes will be awarded for the top three cake designs and include an overnight stay in a Brown garden, a champagne hamper and a family pass for any National Trust landscape.

Capability Brown Festival director Ceryl Evans said: "The Capability Brown Festival is about engaging people with the life, work and legacy of Capability Brown – whether this be existing fans, or people who have heard his name but are unsure as to why, or what he did."

To find out more visit capabilitybrown.org