This year’s Harpenden Christmas Poster Competition winner has been announced.

The town’s mayor, Rosemary Farmer, held a special reception in the Council Chamber on Monday, November 11 to present the winner and runners up of the poster competition with their awards.

The lucky winner, Jacob, was presented with a certificate and a £25 WHSmith gift card and the runners up received certificates and gift cards according to the award that they received. The town mayor’s theme for 2013 was The Joy of Christmas and Jacob’s design of a vivid white Christmas tree surrounded by smaller trees and falling snow was a delight to look at.

Councillor Farmer said it was a reminder of the beautiful landscape around us. Jacob, who is a St Nicholas CE VA Primary School pupil, design will be made into the town mayor’s Christmas card and he will be invited to switch on the Christmas lights at the carnival in Harpenden on Sunday, November 24.

The town’s mayor said she was delighted with the response to the 2013 competition, which had nearly 200 entries. She said it had been difficult choosing a winner as so many lovely designs had been received.

She said: "I thoroughly enjoyed looking at all the beautiful designs. There were some really lovely and original ideas.

"The children must have worked very hard on their drawings and paintings and I appreciated all their hard work. "The entries were a joy to look at. Thank you to every single child who took part."

Councillor Farmer also presented Jacob’s school with a £100 cheque.