People across the Sid Valley are busy creating scarecrows for the Sidmouth Scarecrow Competition.

The competition, which will take place between July 17 and July 24, gives Sidmouth residents the chance to show off their creative side and hopefully entertain locals and visitors to the town with their quirky creations.

The theme for this year's competition is the Seaside or the Movies. There are three categories; general public, businesses and community.

The event's founder, Amy Roles, lives in Sidmouth with her family. Her daughter Jessica, who has autism, attends a nursery in Beer, it was whilst on the school run, Jessica spotted the scarecrows in Beer and loved seeing the scarecrows around the village.

Amy wondered if Sidmouth could do something similar to spread some happiness to others. She popped a poster on a Sidmouth community Facebook page and it's now gone viral.

Sarah Reiss, a local graphic designer, has redesigned the poster and now interest in entering the competition is coming in from across valley, including Newton Poppleford and Sidford.

Sally Mynard, Vice-Chairman of Sidmouth Chamber of Commerce said: "As well as local residents and community groups, we are encouraging all businesses to take part in this event by making a scarecrow to pop in their shop window or outside their business premises.

"This year judging will be done virtually, so please upload your wonderful creations to the Sidmouth Scarecrow Competition Facebook page for judging.

"Lets have some fun and encourage people to visit our lovely town to see these wonderful scarecrows."

For more information on the competition, click here.