Miniature house trail bringing footfall to Dawlish

There are 66 of the Dittos houses all across Dawlish, themed to the shops they are installed on.

A tourist trail of model houses made to the scale of five-inch (12cm) fictional creatures is making a return to Dawlish high street for its third year.

The houses - known as Ditto Houses - are the creations of David Hardie and his sister Diana Townsend.

The Dittos of Dawlish started as bedtime stories Mr Hardie told his son and nieces, but after becoming ill with a rare blood condition in 2021, he decided to bring the creatures to life in a trail for children in the town.

There are 66 of the model houses throughout the town.

The houses are all unique and are made from recycled materials in David's workshop.

Mr Hardie said "I've always had the idea of making the little houses and putting them around as an attraction to help Dawlish and when I was ill I had time, so they started to appear".

The Dittos are described as "hard-working creatures who take great pride in their town of Dawlish in Devon."

They "look after the wildlife, such as the swans and ducks, and are always ready to help if a bird's nest is damaged or a baby hedgehog gets lost", according to the creators.

Dittos are magical elf-like creatures who recycle things humans leave behind, according to the creators

The tourist trail draws people of all ages, not just children, and the books written by David's sister Diana Townsend are just as popular across the generations.

Ms Townsend said "it's not just children that are reading them, it's quite a lot of adults and senior citizens too".

The trail of Ditto houses encompasses many businesses in the town, something they said they were very grateful for.

Sarah Nicks, owner of the Shoe Centre, said: "Whilst the trail is fun and the houses are incredible, it also means that when people are following the trail, they are looking in our shop windows, they are looking at what we all have to offer."

She added: "We're all struggling slightly and this has been brilliant."