WINFRITH Village Stores has won the Purbeck Art Weeks Festival's 'Midsummer Dreams' shop window competition, it has been announced.

More than 40 shops in Swanage, Wareham, Corfe Castle and Winfrith Newburgh entered the contest, which ran alongside the two week arts festival held earlier this summer.

Retailers were tasked with creating a window display along the Midsummer Dreams theme - the same theme for this year's festival.

Wareham's Sue Ryder shop came second and Kaff's Coffe Pot cafe, also in Wareham, took third place.

PAW festival spokesman Charlotte Heath said: "Congratulations to the winners, and thank you all for being pioneers in what was a new venture for PAW this year. We hope it helped your businesses too.

"Winfrith Village Store’s sand mermaid was amazing."

Owner of the winning store, Pascal Surret, said: "The display was the brainchild of the shop's team, as well as Janet from Winfrith and Alix from Lulworth.

"Janet and I were the dream clouds makers, using polystyrene and wadding, and Alix the sand mermaid maker, using polystyrene and sharp sand.

"As the mermaid took shape so did her midsummer dreams."

According to Alison Ward the inspiration for Sue Ryder Shop was a vision of a woodland scene with flowers and fairies - her own take on Shakespeare's Midsummer's Night Dream.

She said: "As soon as I had signed up for the competition I began to collect material I could use.

"My husband and I went foraging in Wareham Forest for suitable twigs."

The winners were announced after residents and visitors voted for their favourite shop displays.