THE organisers of Ramsbottom Jigsaw Festival have hailed this year’s event as a success.

Hundreds of puzzle enthusiasts descended on St Paul’s Church last week for the annual event, now in its fifth year.

The festival, which is a joint venture between Edenfield Parish Church and St Paul’s Church, features the jigsaw making work of local people from a wide range of ages and abilities.

From Tuesday to Saturday, visitors were treated to the spectacle of a huge patchwork of more than 1,000 puzzles, laid out across the interior of the church, in Bridge Street, in the centre of Ramsbottom.

The puzzles had been assembled over the last 12 months and were available for visitors to buy, break up and take away to make up for themselves.

And organisers say they believe this year’s festival has been one of the most successful yet. They are hopeful of bettering the £6,200 raised by last year’s event.

Alan Lumsden, who helped organise the event, said: “It went really well. Every day was busier than the equivalent day last year.

“We have had some great feedback and people really like the idea of the jigsaw festival and appreciate the work that goes into it.

“It is a full year event really. While we have the few days it is open, the rest of the time people are making up the jigsaws.

“It is not just about the festival, but the network of people we have built. That is something we never dreamed of when we started.

“There are not many things that such a wide range of people can be involved in. We have had people in there 90s, as well as five year olds getting involved.”