SWINDON came over all spooky today as the town marked Halloween with a number of celebrations.

Parents and students were invited to put on their most creative faces for Lethbridge Primary School’s annual pumpkin carving contest.

Nine winners were chosen out of more than 100 creative pumpkins from students aged four through 11 with one winner chosen from each key stage and prizes for the runner ups as well.

The competition invited parents to work together with their children to create a joint masterpiece which was then judged yesterday.

The contest was organised by community officer Tracey Owen, who has put it together every year, being judged by deputy headteacher Claire Harmer.

“It was very hard for us to choose, they were brilliant,” Mrs Harmer said.

"I picked them by the design. I was mostly looking for originality and effort.”

Barnaby, aged six, won first place for key stage one, for his carving of a spooky ghost on a pumpkin he planted himself.

“I think I planted it in July and then it took my parents and I about 30 minutes to carve the design,” Barnaby said.

The four runners up in key stage one were Esme aged five, Niamh, also aged five, Vincente, six, and Cassie, four.

The first place winner in key stage two was Isabel aged seven, for her pumpkin design which was made up of one small pumpkin for a head with two faces and a large one for the body which she dressed with a black top hat.

“My pumpkin was meant to be a deadly pumpkin, it has arms, legs and socks. It has two faces so you can turn it around to make it happy or sad. It took me three hours. My dad helped me put it together,” Isabel said.

The runners up for key stage two were Poppy, seven, Imogen, eight, and Luke, nine.

Mrs Harmer added: “The students could have carved a pumpkin with any creative design, it didn’t have to be Halloween theme. It was just something nice to do.”

In addition to the pumpkin festivities, Swindon residents on Kingshill Road may have the spookiest house on the street as they dressed the house with ghoulish designs which resembled a haunted house.

Over the course of the weekend, the Queen's Park cafe team marked the end of their season this year with a special day packed full of Halloween fun. The 58 Shakes provided live music throughout the day, with their outdoor dancefloor packed with people in Halloween costumes, while guests enjoyed some of the delicious treats cooked up by cafe team member Jill Follett.

Queens Park Community Council chairman Stan Pajak said that it had been a very well-attended event, and the team were looking forward to returning again at Easter to reopen the cafe once again.

Anyone who would like to get involved and volunteer should call 01793 497165.