Wiltshire in pictures: Halloween and sacred stones

With the arrival of Halloween, businesses and individuals across the county were caught up in the seasonal spirit this week.

From decorated pumpkins and spooky houses, to rediscovered stones, here is a selection of pictures from across Wiltshire.

Painted to perfection: A Day of the Dead style pumpkin in a window display at Haine and Smith Opticians in Trowbridge. The business is one of 30 taking part in the town's pumpkin trail to mark the build up to Halloween.

Seasonal and spooky: Claire Cox from Swindon covered her house in huge decorations, including a 12ft (3.6m) grim reaper and 7ft (2.1m) pumpkin, all of which light up at night. Ms Cox is raising money for the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity (SANDS), something she has done annually since she lost her niece.

Pumpkins for two: Tiger mum Yana and one of her four rare Amur cubs inspect the pumpkins on offer at Longleat Safari Park. The pumpkins are part of a programme of regular enrichment activities for the cubs Ginger Biscuit, Dora-Boo, Seeka and Heidi.

In training: BBC Wiltshire's breakfast presenter Ben Prater is gearing up for his part swimming in the Children in Need Thousand Mile Challenge. This week, he has been getting some tips from members of the Mercian Regiment at the pool at Bulford Camp at Bulford.

Teeth: Families from under-served communities in Swindon have this week been taught good oral hygiene habits by dental specialists.

The aim is to reduce the number of tooth extractions especially for under fives, who are nearly three times more likely to have teeth removed than others across the south west.

Bats: A recent two-year project at the Longleat Estate identified 14 of the rarest bat species, including the Bechstein's bat which is endangered.

The parks conservation and research manager, Dr Tom Lewis, said: "To have so many native species living and breeding in Longleat is fantastic because it just shows how good the habitat here is for these species."

Salisbury's Sacred Stones: A number of decorated stones with a fascinating history have recently been discovered close to Salisbury Cathedral. The stones come from Old Sarum, the original location of the cathedral before it moved in 1220, and are in good condition having been placed face first into the Close wall.

Colours of autumn: While we are speaking about Salisbury Cathedral it would be amiss of us not to share this wonderful photo showing the building in all its glory in the autumn sun.