IT was a weekend of firsts for the people of Pewsham as the community were treated to the estate's first ever scarecrow trail.

More than 300 people flocked to Pewsham on Sunday for the children's book themed trail, which included 28 scarecrows from Mr Men to Alice in Wonderland.

Jill Kelsey, one of the six organisers of this year's event, said: "The estate was heaving with people and there was a really exciting buzz.

"The weather definitely helped and it was nice to see so many people who had no connection to Kings Lodge School get involved. It was a real community event and that's something the headteacher commented on too."

The trail, which was organised by the Kings Lodge Friends, is believed to have raised just under £2,000 for projects at the primary school.

Although judging for the overall trail winner and the best scarecrow has yet to take place, the organisers are delighted with the overwhelmingly positive feedback they received on the day.

"The families had put lots of effort in and we have had lots of positive comments in our comments box with people saying they hope it will make a return next year and even people giving their numbers so that they can help make scarecrows next year.

"The six of us got together after the event to celebrate and read the comments and it was quite emotional to see what people had written and there may have been a few tears.

"We were manning the tent in the school, so we weren't able to see what the estate was like but the smiles of people coming back were absolutely worth it."

The committee will decide if the scarecrow trail will make a return next year in the next few weeks.