by Emily Bridgewater

BELBROUGHTON villagers are celebrating the bumper funds raised by this year's Scarecrow Weekend.

The mammoth task of counting all the cash collected during the two-day event, which was held in September, is finally over and organisers are delighted to announce the final figures.

A whopping £27,000 profit was raised from the popular annual extravaganza, which is the most money generated in the event's six-year history.

As usual, it will be distributed between the village first school, the church and the recreation centre, as well as a handful of other worthwhile causes.

Organiser Paul Reynolds said: "We are delighted with how much money has been raised from the event, all the hard work has definitely paid off."

He added: "We would like to thank all the villagers for their efforts, which made the event such a big success, and to the people who came down."

At the end of September, families flocked to Belbroughton to join in the fun and see the hundreds of handmade scarecrows dotted around the picturesque village.

Visitors can now relive the memories of the happy weekend on a new video, which is narrated by BBC Radio Two's Patrick Lunt.

It is 45-minutes long and is priced £9.99. Copies are available from village stores and Belbroughton First School in Bradford Lane. Alternatively they are also available from Paul on 01562 730904.

And organisers are already looking ahead to next year's event. "We want to make next year's weekend even bigger," added Paul.