BRITISH sporting heroes in straw form have popped up in south Copeland.

Creations depicting some of our Team GB Olympians have made an appearance in the Millom and Haverigg area this weekend.

This year's Millom Scarecrow Festival featured a number of Rio Olympic medal winners, such as a scarecrow of tennis star Andy Murray, the Olympic and Wimbledon champion.

The pupils of St James Catholic Primary School, in Millom, used the Olympic gold medal-winning England women's hockey team as their inspiration.

They created an England hockey player complete with hockey stick and pigtails.

Sheila Watson, of Millom, made cricket umpire legend Dickie Bird raising an index finger to indicate a batsman is out.

Cycling has also captured the imagination of the public with Britain's dominance in the velodrome and Chris Froome's third Tour de France victory.

Millom's scarecrow cyclists featured a lady cyclist and a child on a bike.

The festival also had a canoeist scarecrow and an Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards scarecrow stuck up a tree.

The winner will be selected by a combination of a public vote and the vote of Millom mayor Councillor Doug Wilson and his wife, Councillor Fee Wilson. The festival is organised by Millom Town Council.

Cllr Doug Wilson said: "It's a fun occasion and the entries are very good. We are glad that people have put the effort in and entered the festival."

The results are due to be announced soon.

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