MALDON Carnival has had another successfully spooky event in the run-up to Halloween.

The event saw children dress up as a variety of mystical creatures and gather at Promenade Park for a Halloween hunt on Saturday.

Despite the weather, more than 100 children came and took part in the hunt which involved looking for letters which were scattered around the maze to reveal cryptic clues.

Once the children revealed the riddle, they received a Halloween treat and piece of fruit, courtesy of Tesco.

The day also involved some messy fun with slime workshops and ghoulish cake decorating.

But the main attraction was the fancy-dress competition.

The winner in the under-fours category was Rebecca, 4-7 was Megan, 8-11 was Lewis and 12 and above was Tayla.

The highly commendable award went to five-year-old Sofia and the best made costume award was won by three-year-old Nathan and seven-year-old Jennifer.

The day also saw the traditional Spot the Stranger competition which saw participants running about town to find objects in the shop windows of Maldon High Street which the shop doesn’t sell.

The community came together, with almost 70 shops taking part and more than 150 competitors searching for the hidden ‘strangers’.

This year’s winner was nine-year-old Imogen Wood who was the only one who found all 69 objects.