Knitters in Hilmarton have set themselves an unusual task – creating a house out of wool to raise money for their church.

More than 30 knitting enthusiasts have already put themselves forward to take part in the project, which is part of the art, craft and music festival that takes place in the village in July.

The knitted house is set to be approximately six foot by six foot, complete with a garden fence, window boxes and a chimney.

Organiser Val Procter, 59, of Church Road, said: “I got the idea after a friend told me about her brother who knitted a boat up in South Shields, and it sounded like a brilliant idea.

“I thought to myself we could do something like that, why not knit a house, it’s something different.

“We have had a brilliant response, we’ve got about 35 people who have come forward to knit and that seems to be increasing all the time. People are getting involved from Calne and even Chippenham, which is great because hopefully it will mean more people will come along to the festival.”

The house will be the main attraction at the two day festival, which will be raising money through ticket sales and donations, for the upkeep of St Laurence Church.

Mrs Procter said: “We need to protect our churches and, with dwindling congregation numbers, it costs a lot of money for the upkeep so we want to raise as much money as possible so we can look after our church for future generations.”

The group was set to meet to discuss the plans for the big knit last week but were forced to cancel because of the snow.

But despite the setback, Mrs Procter is confident the project will be built in time.

She said: “We have about five months and I am told that is enough time. We have some exquisite knitters amongst us.

“I have been knitting for so long I can’t remember a time when I didn’t knit. I can’t even remember who taught me, but it must have been my mum or my grandmother.

“I love it, it’s quite relaxing and you can do it whilst you are watching television too.

“We have had such a good response to this project and I am delighted – it shows real community spirit.”

Anyone who has any wool to donate should contact Mrs Procter on (01249) 760312, who will be happy to collect it.

The Hillmarton Art, Craft and Music Festival takes place in the village over the weekend of July 3 and 4.