A DORSET village held an art exhibition to keep its residents entertained.

The small village of Langton Herring, just outside of Weymouth, is home to little over 100 people. Many of those people partook in the exhibition over the Easter bank holiday weekend with more than 25 varied pieces of art on display.

The artwork included many conventional Easter subjects such as rabbits, chickens and eggs, whilst also boasting less traditional designs including some impressive landscape paintings, an elephant sculpture, and even a Dalek from Doctor Who.

Weymouth Police attended and joked on Twitter about recruiting the Dalek, even snapping a picture of the art display with a police hat on.

Fiona Raynes, a resident of Langton Herring, hatched the idea as a way of boosting the spirit of the local community.

Mrs Raynes said: “The average age of the village is, being kind, over 50, but being realistic it’s probably closer to 60 or 70.

“The general feeling was that everyone was a little down because we couldn’t see our families, so it was great to see everyone in such high spirits.

“It was nice to have something to take our minds off the virus over the Easter period and be able to focus on something else for a while.”

Mrs Raynes drew inspiration from Portland’s annual ‘Window Wonderland’ event, where the locals decorate their windows and gardens with a variety of lights and colours.

The idea was circulated through their virtual village newsletter and through this and word of mouth, it eventually spread through the village.

Mrs Raynes continued: “I put my piece up on Thursday and took it down Monday. Most people did the same thing, so the village could enjoy the art for the whole of the long weekend.

“There are plenty of children in the village and they all had a great time joining in along with the adults.

“The talk has been that everyone wants to do it again. Everyone’s been saying we should do it again next year and invite more people from the local area.

“It was so lovely to see the community come together, from a distance of course.”

To maintain the high spirits of the village, Langton Herring plan to hold more socially distant events, including hosting their own decorative window displays this weekend.

You can view the whole collection of artworks on Instagram: @LangtonHerringOutsideArt.