Malvern Hills District Council has joined forces with Malvern, Upton, and Tenbury Town Councils to launch this year’s festive shop window dressing competition with a twist.

New for 2020, the competition will include a fun children’s trail to encourage local shoppers onto the high streets, whilst following social distancing guidelines. Children are being asked to help Santa Claus find a series of letters hidden within the window displays which will reveal a Christmas word or phrase. Prizes are up for grabs for those who complete the challenge, different rules apply for the different trails.

There will also be an additional award for the best dressed window which will be judged by the public. The trails will launch on the following dates:

• Upton: December 3 to 9

• Tenbury: December 3 to 23

• Malvern: December 5 to 23

To take part, a free map can be picked up from the tourist information centres in Malvern, Upton and Tenbury or downloaded from the Malvern Hills District Council website.

The trails will coincide with late night shopping across the district which will enable more opportunities to shop local this Christmas. The Great Malvern Christmas Market runs from 10am to 5pm on December 5.

Cllr Sarah Rouse, portfolio holder for tourism and economic development for Malvern Hills District Council, said: “These Christmas Shop Window Trails are a fun way of supporting the high streets across the district. Along with the upcoming markets, late night shopping and our offer of free parking, there are plenty of opportunities to shop local. Our traders are ready to welcome shoppers back and have Covid-19 safety measures in place. In the meantime, there are many businesses offering delivery and click-and-collect”.

Linda Blake, Town Clerk of Malvern Town Council said: “I am delighted that over 50 traders have agreed to be involved in four different window trails across Malvern. The Town Council Events Co-ordinator has been hard at work creating imaginative letters for the window displays and we hope that it will be a fun experience for all who take part. It has been fantastic to work with the District Council on this new window trail to promote our local traders at the end of a challenging year”.

Visit www.malvernhills.gov.uk/community/christmas for more information.