A GRUESOMELY bloody “crime” scene sparked frantic interest from curious villagers in Flamstead this weekend.

Fortunately the “murdered” victim lying prone with a knife in his back was just one of 100 impressive scarecrows displayed in front gardens as part of a spectacular village festival.

The three-day Flamstead Scarecrow Festival, held for the eighth successive year, again attracted thousands of visitors to the quaint village on Friday, Saturday and today.

Along with the “Mid-Flamstead Murder” scene, highlights included a giant Shrek, the Blues Brothers and a scene depicting a policeman discovering Osama bin Laden's mystery hideout – a green wheelie bin in the village.

Other scarecrows paid homage to golfer Tiger Woods, Barack Obama and survival expert Bear Grylls, while last year's winning entry, a tribute to Amy Winehouse, welcomed visitors into the village.

Under bright blue skies and bathed in beautiful sunshine, morris dancers entertained the thronging crowds this afternoon, while the village pubs were packed with people enjoying the glorious weather.

Punch and Judy shows ran throughout the day to entertain the children and watercolour painting demonstrations were held inside St Leonard's Church.

Julian Taunton, from the festival's steering committee, said the festival had grown year on year over the past eight years, adding the warm weekend weather had made for another impressive festival.

He said: “On Friday we had two heavy downpours of rain, but even so, people came back and we were quite busy for the later part of the afternoon.

“Of course yesterday and today the weather has been generous and the turn out has been absolutely superb.”

As in previous years, the festival will split profits between the the Herts Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Therapy Centre, based in Letchworth, and the St Leonard's Church, in Flamstead.

The festival raised £10,000 last year after selling voting slips for the scarecrow competition for £2.

Paul McMahon, another member of the committee, added: “It has been very good.

“We have got in the region of 130 scarecrows in the village, which is up from last year. It is great because we have no control on the number of scarecrows we have and right up until the last minute we have no idea what they are going to be like.

“Without the scarecrows we don't have a festival.”