The Cornish Times has signed up TV chat show stars Richard and Judy to present its annual scarecrow competition awards.

The couple, who have a home in Cornwall, phoned the paper to say they would be delighted to accept the invitation to hand out the prizes.

Chief reporter Viv Twornicki said: "Richard and Judy are very much involved in the community and regard the area as their home. We quite often have their pictures in the paper.

"They think the competition is great fun and enjoy seeing all the scarecrows in all the local villages.

"We've already had 30 villages enter this year. Each village can enter three scarecrows in the competition and the winner will get a cheque for £250 from the Cornish Times to spend as they decide in their community.

"We've also introduced a junior competition for the first time where winners will receive vouchers for themselves."

The Cornish Times has a readership of around 45,000. It is edited by John Noble and is published every Friday by Putnam Newspaper Ltd which is part of the Tindle Newspaper Group.

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