Once again, they’ve been outstanding in their field.

And we’re not just talking about how impressive their outfits were.

Meltham held their seventh annual Scarecrow Festival, with hundreds flocking to the village on Bank Holiday Monday to see the straw characters dotted about the village.

And with the likes of everything from Darth Vader to Her Majesty on display, they certainly added a bit of colour to a grey bank holiday.

Everywhere from private front gardens to strips of grass on the pavement were occupied by the characters, who proved extremely popular with locals braving the miserable weather.

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The event this year was organised by Phillip Kaye, of the Meltham Over 60s group.

One of the most popular scarecrows appearing at the festival was a six-foot creation built to resemble Star Wars villain Darth Vader.

Although it’s safe to say that despite scaring the crows off, he looked considerably less austere when fashioned out of bin bags and loo roll tubes.

Scholes schoolgirl Lydia presented her Angel of the North scarecrow fashioned from card, fabric and pipecleaners, which she created with her classmates.

Lydia said: “I think it’s good that we’ve entered it into the Scarecrow Festival this year.”

Other creations included familiar faces such as Mickey Mouse, Bill & Ben the Flowerpot Men, the Yorkshire Rows team and Dorothy, the Scarecrow and Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz, the latter of which appeared in front of the church.

There was also a campaign theme at the event. Traders in St Bartholomews Church where refreshments were served, sold t-shirts and mugs to support the Hands Off HRI campaign.

They are raising funds to support the fight to stop the A & E unit at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary from being moved to Calderdale.

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