Mystery knitters make seaside nativity scene

Bollard covers depicting characters from the nativity have appeared in Weymouth

A group of anonymous knitters have adorned a seafront with an array of knitted nativity characters.

The Knitoholics made the bollard covers for Weymouth harbourside, depicting key characters from the nativity story including Mary, Joseph, the donkey, the shepherd and the three wise men.

A Knitoholic told the BBC she wanted to "remind people what Christmas was supposed to be about".

She said the reaction had been "fabulous".

One Knitaholic told the BBC they wanted to "remind people what Christmas was supposed to be about"

The group is made up of four grandmothers in their 60s and "one very talented granddaughter" who helps out with the designs and sketches.

They have been decorating the seafront for all of the major holidays for about four years.

"It started during lockdown when everybody was really fed up," the anonymous Knitoholic told the BBC.

"It just made people smile and we got an awful lot of support from our locals."

With each character taking about six weeks to make, the Knitoholics started making the nativity characters in July - when their summer ice cream display was still on the seafront.

Some of the characters were reincarnated from previous ones.

"Wonky the donkey had a hard life," said the Knitoholic.

"He was a reindeer last year."

The knitted characters "make people smile", their creators said

According to the Knitoholic, being anonymous was all part of the fun.

"We spend most of the year sneaking about trying not to look as though we are doing anything," she said - which was hard, given they had to measure the bollards for size.

"People will try to sneak up on us," she said.

She said seeing the reaction from the community was one of the best bits.

"You overhear people talking about them and it's so lovely to smile and think of everyone else smiling," she said.

"It's made people happy."