Northamptonshire market square bollards yarn-bombed for Christmas

In all, 48 bollards in Higham Ferrers have been covered with woolly Christmas treats featuring Father Christmas, an angel, a shepherd and snowmen

Bollards on a market square have been yarn-bombed with Christmas characters to "brighten people's lives".

Due to last month's coronavirus lockdown, the annual Christmas Sparkle event on 21 November in Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, was cancelled.

Higham Ferrers Town Council decided to get creative and called on the community to knit and crochet decorations.

Mayor Tina Reavey said it had brought "something extra special" to the area.

The Three Wise Men even arrived with gold, frankincense and myrrh

Knitted angels have been placed at the town's Methodist Church on the High Street

Alicia Schofield, assistant town clerk, said: "As we couldn't put on the Christmas Sparkle, the council and the community decided we still wanted to do something - one of the ideas was yarn bombing."

Some 48 bollards have been covered, there is 30m (98ft) of bunting, trees have been decorated and angels have been placed outside a church, she said.

"It has really taken off and it's been shared on social media. It has gone global and brought people together."

The town council said there had been responses on social media from Canada and Australia

Dave Askew, from Northamptonshire Walks, who shared the images on Twitter, said he "absolutely loved them".

Replies to his post thanked the town council and said it was a "really lovely initiative".

One said: "I love these, [I] see them every day leaving work. Well done to those who made these - [it] makes me smile each time I see them."

Tina Reavey, the mayor of Higham Ferrers, got her knitting needles out and helped make the decorations

Ms Reavey, who also contributed to the knitting, said: "It has been a joy to help create the display with the community and it is wonderful to be able to brighten people's lives in this way.

"I can't thank enough those members of the community who gave up their time to knit and crochet and assemble the bollard covers and all the woolly decorations."