AN ERRAY of straw-filled creations have returned to an Oxfordshire village to help curb speeding drivers.

Scarecrows are scattered through the village of Somerton, near Bicester, for the annual competition which hopes to not only decorate the rural setting but slow down those passing through.

Villagers introduced the idea last year of upping their curb-appeal and the success saw the event return for a second year.

Somerton parish council chairwoman Alison Smith said: “It is the same idea we are following after working with the neighbourhood plan group who had spoken with a traffic consultant.

“He helped look at the area and come up with alternative ideas to slow traffic down.

“The scarecrow competition is one aspect of that, as rural traffic is quite different to urban traffic and we don’t want to have slow down signs and chicanes on every corner.”

The idea is that scarecrows can provide something for people to look at without being too much of a distraction to drivers.

Ms Smith added: “it really does slow people down, and more than that it raises awareness – even if it is just a small amount – that we are a village community here.”

This year’s competition had 14 entries with some 20 entries as villagers went all out with their eye-catching creation.

These included Scrumpy the scarecrow handing out apples and collecting for charity, the legless sailor and the ‘Peace, Love and Moo-nity’ campaign cow.

Sadly two entries - mum and child, and the little playground princess - were stolen along the way and the hard work of their creators destroyed.

But saving the day was a cheeky return from last year as the buttock-bearing police officer came out of storage helping to replace those stolen.

Villagers voted for their favourite and coming out on top was the 'Social Climber' seen crawling the walls in Heyford Road.

Ms Smith, who was helped in organisation with Malcolm Thompson, added: "There's a great community spirit in Somerton and people have loved the competition."