There were no villains to be seen when the talented young artists who took top honours in a challenge linked to the Royston Arts Festival lined up to receive their prizes.

The art competition called on contestants to depict heroes and villains of the Bible, with many local schools and children’s groups getting involved.

Noah and the Flood, Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath and other familiar figures were sources of inspiration and the resulting works were put on show at St John the Baptist church during the festival, and then formed the basis for a display at the town’s museum which comes to an end this weekend.

The Royston Fringe challenge was overseen by Royston and District Churches Together and the prizes were donated by Hamleys Warehouse.

In the category for artists aged under eight, Julius Crosby took the top prize with Ian Barnes in runner-up spot and Kathryn Reeves third.

Jemma Williams took top spot in the ages eight to 11 category, with Shula Mulcock second and William Marriage third.

There was a joint prize awarded in the category for ages 12 to 17 with Eleanor Sweet, Reba Powell-Birley and Kamile Dolbninate sharing the spoils.