CREATIVE youngsters are being given the chance to win an iPad Air worth £399 by entering our spooktacular half-term Halloween art competition.

Spirited artists aged between five and 16 are being urged to enter our Children’s Halloween Art Competition run in conjunction with the Merrywalks Centre in Stroud and O2.

The overall winner will receive an Apple iPad Air Wifi 16GB from the O2 shop in Merrywalks while two runners-up will each get a night out at Merrywalks courtesy of Hotcha and Stroud Bowl and a gift voucher from The Toy Shop in Stroud.

Ten entrants aged from five to 10 and another 10 aged from 11 to 16 will be shortlisted by judges from Merrywalks, the SNJ and O2.

These 20 masterpieces will be displayed in the vacant Merrywalks store in King Street over the Halloween weekend with the public asked to vote for their favourite.

Votes will be collected in a box in the O2 shop.

To enter, simply draw, paint or create a collage a Halloween theme on A4 or A3 paper and drop it into the 'spooky postbox' in the O2 shop at unit 35, Merrywalks by 5pm on Wednesday, October 29.

The artwork will be displayed in the King Street store from Friday, October 30 to Saturday, November 1, with the winners being placed in gold frames that afternoon.

While the overall winner will walk away with the iPad Air, the two winners of the age group categories will win a night out for up to three children and two adults comprising one session of bowling plus a main meal and non-alcoholic drinks at Hotcha and a £25 gift voucher for The Toy Shop in High Street, Stroud.

The remaining 18 entrants will receive art equipment worth £10 from Home Bargains.

William Wrather of Streetlands, which owns Merrywalks, said: "We can't wait to see what the young people of Stroud come up with and we hope lots of people come and see the spooky artwork in Merrywalks and vote for their favourite."

Terms and conditions

Entries can be painted, sketched, collage or similar. All entries must have names, age and contact details, including a daytime phone number for a parent. No entries can be returned and there is no alternative prize.

All artwork must be the original idea and creation of the credited child. Copying of any pre-existing image is not acceptable, whether visually or by tracing. Colouring in an outline printed or drawn by someone else is also not acceptable.

The child named on the entry must complete the artwork themselves.

Winners’ names (but no other identifying data) will be announced on the Merrywalks Centre website and in the SNJ.

Directors, employees, tenants and associates of Merrywalks Shopping Centre, and their children are not eligible for prizes, but may enter competitions and submit their pictures for inclusion in the art gallery.

• One entry per child, age group determined by age of child on October 30, 2014

• The prizes are:

1. Overall winner as voted by the public will win an iPad Air donated by O2 in Stroud.

2. One winner in the 10 and under category and one in the 16 and under winner category as selected by the Merrywalks Centre team will each get: a night out for up to three children and two adults comprising of one session of bowling and a main meal and non-alcoholic drinks each at Hotcha (prize cannot be taken during the Christmas season) and a £25 gift voucher from The Toy Shop.

3. 18 runners up will receive art equipment worth £10 from Home Bargains.