Education, Motoring & Transport | Posted on September 2nd, 2025 | return to news

Scarecrows pop up around West Moors

A scarecrow competition has launched in West Moors to raise money for a local school and to encourage motorists to slow down.

If you visit the town of West Moors before 19 September, you will see dozens of home-made scarecrows have popped up along its roads.

They are part of a scarecrow competition organised by Dorset Council’s Cllr Andy Skeats to raise funds for a local school and to raise awareness of traffic speed.

The competition launched on 18 August and runs until 19 Septembers. Residents have been asked to design and build human-sized scarecrows to display around the town, with a prize to be awarded for the best scarecrow.

Participants must donate £10 to take part, with all the money raised going towards the school safety fund at St Mary’s School on Station Road.

Cllr Skeats said: “I have received the £10 entries from lovely supportive local people, clubs, businesses, the church and pubs. We should have around 29 entries in total, mainly in Station Road, West Moors and in particular the BH22 0JF area.”

The theme is road safety, and each scarecrow has a sign attached reading “20 is plenty” in reference to a national campaign calling for default road speeds to be reduced to 20 miles per hour (mph).

The councillor added: “The present speed in Station Road is 30mph. A reduction to 20mph is one of the things being discussed by the town council on 28 August, and we hope to see some action to fulfil the needs of our lovely community and make West Moors a safer place for pedestrians and cyclists.”

The winner of the scarecrow competition will be a judging panel consisting of Revd Lizzie Campbell from St Mary’s Parish Church and two other leaders of the community selected by Cllr Skeats.

To enter the competition, contact the councillor on 01202 873786 or email andyskeats@hotmail.com.