Bunny village on the hunt for its lost rabbits

The bunnies come in two sizes, baby and adult, and are placed around the village

The village of Bunny has discovered it has a hare-raising problem - it has lost its collection of... bunnies.

Tucked away among a warren of quiet country roads south of Nottingham, the village prides itself on the community spirit displayed in marking major events.

The village marks celebrations such as Christmas, jubilees and sporting events by decorating the area with wooden rabbits, which are cut to a template but individually repainted to reflect a theme.

But organisers have found all but 10 of the 27 original figures have, over the years, gone missing and have appealed for locals to hop to it and return them.

Organisers say replacing the rabbits means lost time and expense

According to the Nottinghamshire History website, the name of the village comes from the Saxon word Bune, meaning reeds.

But more than a decade ago it inspired the Bunny Improvement Group, a team of volunteers, to start making wooden rabbits to mark special occasions.

Now meeting to plan for VE celebrations later this year has led to the realisation most of the figures were unaccounted for.

Stella Alldred, from the group, said: "Over the years we have, unfortunately, had about three stolen from the lamp-posts where we used to display them.

"But we have also given them out to people in the village to decorate and, for one reason or another, they have not been returned.

"They are quite expensive to cut out and make so we have put out this appeal so we can get them back for events this year."

The rabbits come in two sizes, with "adults" about 1m (3ft) high and "babies" less than half that size, and made of either plywood or MDF.

Ms Alldred said: "So if anyone has one could you return it or let us know you have it and whether you intend to decorate it for the next event.

"If we don't get them it means we have to find the wood for more bunnies and start all over again."