ORGANISERS of a festival celebrating Wimborne's long history have urged budding authors to submit short stories for a new competition.

Writers can submit stories about life in the town during the First World War as part of the Wimborne History Festival, which this year will take place on July 21 and 22.

Festival director Tracy Whitham said the town was a "very different place" 100 years ago. Officials carried out secret work in Wimborne, while prisoners of war were held in nearby villages.

"This story writing competition is a wonderful way of encouraging everyone to think about what life would have been like in Wimborne during the Great War," she said.

"In particular we hope that children will enjoy researching their story by discussing it with people from older generations and through doing so the competition will help keep stories of the period alive, preserving them for future generations.”

Participants can write stories which are entirely fictional, or mix fact and fiction. The competition is open to people living, working or going to school in the Wimborne area, and prizes are available.

Entries will be judged by local historian and author Janet Seal, children’s novelist and author Julie Ratcliffe, and writer and Colehill parish councillor Jeff Webb. The award-winning stories will go on display as part of a post-festival exhibition and be published online.

For information, visit wimbornehistoryfestival.org.uk