THIS year's Scarecrow Festival starts in Wirral today with the Year of the Sea as its theme.

It is the first year the festival has taken a single theme, and it is expected to draw thousands of visitors before it ends next Sunday.

Marla Johnson, one of the organisers of the event which takes place in the small villages around Thornton Hough, warned people to expect plenty of mermaids and pirates.

Schools from all across Wirral have also been invited to take part by producing scarecrows for the festival.

Marla Johnson said: "It's a fun event, but we haven't a clue how many people are going to turn up. It's so hard to tell. "They come from seven in the morning to 11 o'clock at night."

As in previous years, the event which started in 1999, has hundreds of scarecrows dotted about the villages and surprises around almost every corner.

Last year, a straw police officer - PC Crow - holding a fake speed gun was so lifelike drivers were hitting the brakes for fear of being caught speeding.

One of the highlights of the week is the fete day, which includes judging of the Best Dressed Sea Scarecrow.

There will also be family entertainment from Albert Alchemy's Lobster Show, a steel band and a tug of war, as well as a range of events and stalls.

Last year's scarecrow festival won the Best Small Event on Merseyside 2004 in the MerseyPartnership Tourism Awards.

The festival originally started with the Thornton Hough Millennium Committee and very briefly held the world record in 1999 for the most scarecrows in one place before being overtaken by a Portuguese festival the same year.

But the Thornton Hough event has grown with each year and is now run by the Thornton Hough Community Trust, a registered charity.

The festival raises money for the trust to preserve the villages in line with the work by their founders and benefactors, Joseph Hirst and William Lever. The charity also gives grants to local organisations for activities in the villages.

Residents and businesses in and around the villages of Thornton Hough, Raby, Brimstage, Storeton and Raby Mere take part in the festival.