GHASTLY ghouls and wicked witches took up residence in Swindon as people went to town on decorating their homes for Halloween.

There were grisly murder scenes, haunted graveyards and terrifying creatures ready to amuse trick or treaters.

Louise Polo and her husband Colin stayed up into the early hours on Tuesday to get the garden of their home in Taw Hill ready for the festivities. Halloween is also her birthday and she loves to make a real celebration of it.

“Halloween is quite a big thing in our house anyway and this year I decided to do something special,” she said.

“I’ve not done it for a couple of years and this year my mind just went a bit crazy with things I wanted to do.”

Their piece de resistance was a witch, complete with a bubbling cauldron, a stock of potions and sound effects.

Louise and children Gelsomina, seven, Kalina, four and Sienna, three even made ghost lollies to give to visitors.

Kingshill resident Claire Cox’s house had commuters doing a double take when they spotted the cobweb-draped greenery and frightening creatures in her garden.

Another householder from Westlea said this year his daughter, who had her birthday over the weekend, wanted a Halloween theme for her party.

So he did his best to make it a birthday to remember with 'dead bodies', tomb stones in the lawn and even a man wielding a chainsaw on the roof of the porch.

It took him about four days to put together and the children were delighted.

“No one was scared. All the kids absolutely loved it,” he said.