SHORTWOOD family farm is welcoming back one of it's most popular characters; a 12 foot high man made out of straw.

The straw man had been a regular feature of the farm, in Pencombe near Bromyard, for a number of years but last winter proved fatal. Badgers had taken straw from around his feet in order to line their sett for the cold weather, and when strong winds blew across the farm, he toppled over and landed in a heap.

The farms owners didn't immediatley realise how big a catastophe that was. Janet Legge said: "There was so much to oraganise before the farm opened for Easter that the straw man was forgotten about. However, we soon realised that we would have to do something about him because when visitors returned to the farm we were greeted by distraught families who had turned into the end of our drive expecting to see their old friend and he just wasn't there".

For David Legge, it wasn't as easy to rebuild the straw man as he first thought. "This has happened before but it doesn't usually take me long to rebuild him using the JCB and some new bales, but last year the contractor changed his baler so we only had square bales, which just do not work the same" said David.

But David and Janet's efforts were worthwhile when some round bales were found on a neighbouring farm and used to reconstruct the straw man, who is ready to welcome visitors with his smile as cheery as ever.