BARNOLDSWICK'S own elusive yarn fairies have been out in the dead of night again, this time giving a nod to the conflict in Ukraine.

And just as the elusive artist, Banksy, creates his pieces of art work in secret, so to do the Barlick fairies, with equal anonymity, as they crochet pieces of art and place them around town, atop pillar boxes and bollards and the like to put smiles on people's faces.

The two women became friends just before the first lockdown. Both were pretty new to crocheting so over Facebook they shared various crochet tutorials.

"It was lockdown learning," said one.

The latest creations are blue and yellow toppers and sun flowers as a mark of support for Ukraine.

What prompted their nocturnal decorative activities was when the commemorative events for the VE Day anniversary were cancelled due to Covid restrictions.

The two nimble-fingered friends decided they would crochet red, white or blue flowers and on the eve of VE Day, in the darkness they decorated the plants and bushes around the town's war memorial with their crochet items. Each item had a Happy VE day label saying 'please take me home' on them. Barlick Yarn Fairies was launched.

Since then, they have remained anonymous, sneaking out under the dark of night, adding various items around town. Their first topper was for Valentines day 2021, and since then they have created over 30 post box toppers celebrating various events in the town including Christmas, Easter, football, the Queen's birthday, a Cuthbert caterpillar in disguise, aeroplanes outside Rolls Royce, and various items for Remembrance Day.

The women have since created a Facebook page showing pictures of items they have created and the places they have put them. They have also had requests.

"One little girl's mummy asked us to make a 'pig in blanket' for her as she had seen them on one of the Christmas toppers," one of the crafters said.

Last month they were messaged by Barnoldswick Town Council to say they had received a nomination for a 'Pride of Barnoldswick' award. They were extremely surprised and honoured to be nominated. They attended in a disguise of knitted hats and face masks to collect their award, keeping their identity secret.

"Barlick Yarn Fairies' mission is to make people smile. If we make just one person's day a better one, just from seeing our work, it's job done," she added.