ELLESMERE knitters and stitchers decided that a woolly tribute was in order for two of the town’s medal winners at the Tokyo Olympics.

Members of the Ellesmere Yarn Bombers group have honoured Team GB’s Oliver Townend and Freya Anderson after the pair played their part at the Games and added to Britain’s medal haul.

Townend, of Gadlas Farm near Ellesmere, and his horse Ballaghmor Class (known as Thomas) won gold at Tokyo as part of the GB Eventing Team, while swimmer Anderson was a member of the 4 x 100m mixed medley team who won gold in the pool.

Anderson attended Ellesmere College and was a member of the Ellesmere Titans.

Alison Utting, member of the Ellesmere Yarn Bombers group, said she and fellow group members hope the Olympians like the postbox toppers they have created.

She said: "It has been quite tricky as we've never done post boxes before. The various parts were created by different members of the group, so once the bases were finished, they were passed around from house to house to have the other bits attached.

“There were also a few secretive visits to the post boxes at various stages, just to check that everything was going to fit.

“There was a bit of a panic when the knitting pattern from the horse didn't turn up, but luckily one of our most experienced knitters was up to the challenge of adapting a donkey pattern.

“It's great to see them in place now and people were already taking photos even as we were stitching them on. We hope the Olympians like them."

Ellesmere is already host to a large number of hand-crafted Meremaids and the sea-themed yarn bombing, which were created earlier in the summer.