Banners have been put up in Grotton, Springhead and Lees that look to celebrate the beauty and history of the villages.

In Grotton, the image shows a heart made by the Saddleworth yarn bombers, the banner in Springhead shows a picture of the linear park while a picture of a sunset of Leesbrook Mill is on display in Lees.

The banners were funded by Liberal Democrat Cllrs Sam Al-Hamdani and Mark Kenyon.

Cllr Al-Hamdani said: "I think it’s really important to be able to visibly celebrate the best of our villages and special events, and putting these up is a small but very visible thing we can do to make this happen." 

The Saddleworth West and Lees councillor tried to have artwork erected when the Tour of Britain travelled through Saddleworth, however he found there were no fixings in place in the villages to be able to do it.

Cllr Kenyon said: "Going forward, we want to have a wide range of artwork to look at both the history and the future of our villages.

"Whether it’s celebrating the mill heritage of the villages – Lees, Springhead and Grotton had at least 44 mills in their heyday – or looking at the next generations by running competitions with the local schools; whatever we can do to remind people of the great things that there are about living in our area."

Cllr Al-Hamdani concluded by saying he is looking to have banners produced and installed to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June.