KIDNAPPERS have foiled a burgeoning romance between two entrants in a village competition.Sinbad, the drunken sailor scarecrow, was stolen at the weekend by two young men in a blue/black van as he awaited his potential bride to take part as a couple in the Fritton Action Group's Save the Woods campaign's scarecrow competition.

KIDNAPPERS have foiled a burgeoning romance between two entrants in a village competition.

Sinbad, the drunken sailor scarecrow, was stolen at the weekend by two young men in a blue/black van as he awaited his potential bride to take part as a couple in the Fritton Action Group's Save the Woods campaign's scarecrow competition.

Eight feet tall Sinbad had been painstakingly dressed in yellow for his date by Lydia Brownlow, 12, and her 10 year old sister Lottie of New Road.

When he was kidnapped from his seat opposite the children's playground in Fritton on Saturday at 8.30am, Sinbad was still clutching his beer glass.

His snatch has been reported to Great Yarmouth Police.

It meant youngsters Lydia and Lottie missed out on the opportunity to win a prize but more upsetting was the loss of their pal Sinbad, who had become famous having featured on the BBC with his scarecrow friends the previous evening.