LOCAL residents and visitors alike have been pleased to see Crediton’s town centre decorated again with a collection of handmade brightly coloured flags.

It is the ninth year that the flags have been put up, the idea first suggested during a meeting for the 2013 Crediton Festival then developed by Crediton Arts Centre and with generous grants from Mid Devon District Council and Crediton Town Council, two artists were employed – Charlotte Turner and Bridget Arnold to develop workshops for people to make the flags.

The flagpoles were handmade by local people in a series of free weekend workshops run by the Tanglewood Project.

Rosemary Stephenson, who has co-ordinated the flag project since it started, explained: "The Tanglewood team also took on the daunting task of installing the flags along the High Street to herald the start of the Crediton Festival in June 2013.

"The flags delighted locals and visitors throughout the six-week Festival and quickly attracted interest from further afield, sparking similar projects in Exeter, Taunton and Bovey Tracey.

"The flags didn’t just cheer up the town centre, they had brought people together to learn new skills and, crucially, encouraged shoppers to linger longer on the High Street.

"There were requests for the flags to return the following year, and what started as a one-off community arts project, has since become an annual event.

"With a smaller budget, workshops have moved from the High Street to the Crediton Arts Centre, which generously offers space each year for free.

"The project has continued to be led by artist Charlotte Turner, who helps people turn ideas into designs and either guides them through the making process or makes the flags herself.

"She is helped every year by a team of amazing volunteer seamstresses, without whom the project couldn’t happen.

"Although made of tough nylon, the flags do get damaged by the weather, so each year some have to be repaired or replaced. This year 32 flags were repaired and nine new ones made, some replacing flags from the original 2013 collection."

The Flag Project is organised by Crediton Town Team and funded by Crediton Town Council.