A VARIETY of colourful characters will be greeting people arriving in a North-East village after a team of dedicated yarn-bombers got out their knitting needles.

West Green in Heighington village has been adorned with some festive decorations along with a number of angels and wildlife characters to symbolise the four seasons of the year.

The initiative is part of the village’s 100th anniversary celebrations for the Women’s Institute.

Under a cloud of secrecy, the knitted characters appeared around the village, near Darlington, over the weekend.

Heighington WI president Karin Allison said: “We have been doing a lot of events for the WI’s 100th anniversary celebrations and this was one of the ideas that members came up with.

“One of our members – Chris Houghton – has been the driving force behind the idea and the ladies have been busy knitting for months.

“Members were out late on Saturday night decorating the village’s Christmas tree as well as four other trees on the green to mark the four seasons of the year.

“A lot of people were pleasantly surprised when they saw them on Sunday morning and we are hoping to keep them up until the end of the month.”

People will be able find angels, owls, flowers, creepy crawlies, Santa’s elves and much more, when they explore the village green in the coming weeks.

This yarn-bomb is the latest in a series which have sprung up around the region over the years.

One of the first was when a mystery team of knitters descended on Saltburn Pier to celebrate to the Olympic Games in 2012.

The following year, they returned to celebrate the seaside town’s coastal lifestyle with lifeguards, surfers and sea creatures being attached to the pier.

And when the Tour de France Yorkshire Grand Départ came to the region in July 2014, spectators and visitors were able to see knitted cycles along the route.