Twelve festive reindeers painted by local artists will be bringing Christmas joy to Gloucester.

From Tuesday 23th November, you'll be able to spot the colourful reindeers on the loose around the city and, if you help Father Christmas find all of his runaway reindeers and solve a puzzle - you could be in with a chance of winning a £500 Gloucester Gift Card!

Local artists, including Lydia Hartley, Ben Ashworth, Candice Fox, Tim Martin and Amy Branch, are painting the 5ft reindeers in the theme of Gloucester.

Each reindeer will be decorated in the artist's signature style. Decorated designs will include scenes of Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester Rugby and the city skyline.

Runaway Reindeer trail maps will be available from the Museum of Gloucester and the customer service desk at Gloucester Quays. People will complete the trail by visiting the locations where the reindeers have escaped and writing down a letter which makes a word.

The 12 locations are: GL1, Kings Walk Shopping Centre, Eastgate Shopping Centre, Blackfriars Priory, G&W Furniture, Gloucester Waterways Museum, Gloucester Quays, Llanthony Secunda Priory, St Nicholas Church, Gloucester Cathedral, TKMaxx and British Heart Foundation.

The reindeers will be on the loose until the first week of January 2022.

Gloucester BID is funding the festive trail with the aim of bringing visitors into the city and increasing footfall for businesses.

BID Manager Emily Gibbon said: "Christmas is all about making memories with your friends and family, so we hope people enjoy the exciting trail around the city. We also hope our businesses will benefit from extra visitors and, for some of them, enjoy hosting their very own Runaway Reindeer!"

Artist Sarah Robert said: "I'm really excited to be involved in the Runaway Reindeer project and looking forward to seeing my Reindeer 'Tilly-Rose' in Gloucester for everyone to see and enjoy."

One of the hosts of the reindeers, Peter White of Kings Walk Shopping Centre said: "We at King's Walk are really pleased to be part of the Gloucester BID Reindeer Trail and look forward to welcoming Christmas shoppers back to the centre."

Another host, David Wood of Gloucester & Worcester Furniture Ltd, said: 'We're really excited to be hosting our own reindeer and this marketing will drive shoppers into the city and increase footfall into the shops. Let's hope lots of people enjoy finding our reindeer."

The reindeers are currently at Jolt Gloucester being painted by the artists prior to installation.

For more information see https://www.gloucesterbid.uk/runaway-reindeers/