Guess who's made a welcome return to Hitchin town centre: A Snowman called Lord Sugar is back in Market Place.

You may recall around this time last year Hitchin town centre ushered in the start of the festive period with a free community art trail called Walking with the Snowman.

Inspired by the late Raymond Briggs' classic picture book, The Snowman, the centre of Hitchin played host to 12 jolly snowmen for young and old to enjoy last Christmas and New Year.

As reported by Hitchin Nub News, who originally broke the story, one of the 12 was called Lord Sugar.

As we can happily reveal, the much-loved anthropomorphic snow sculpture has now returned to our town for this year's festivities.

As you can see in our Hitchin Nub News picture taken late on Monday evening (November 27) Sarah Graham's much-loved snowman called Lord Sugar has returned to Hitchin Market Place. CREDIT: Hitchin Nub News

Speaking to Hitchin Nub News, Danny Pearson - community and partnerships officer for the council said: "We are so pleased Lord Sugar decided to come back to Hitchin once again.

"Apparently, he enjoyed his stay in our town so much last year that he decided to come back to pay us another visit.

"Most of you will remember the fantastic Snowman Trail from last year, and it's so great to have everyone's favourite snowman back in the heart of Hitchin, next to the stunning Christmas tree. 

"What a wonderful festive surprise! Welcome back, Lord Sugar."

The eye-catching Snowmen were all designed by different artists from around the UK, each based on one of the 12 days of Christmas.

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that Lord Sugar, the snowman that has returned to the market square today, Monday (November 27) was designed by acclaimed Hitchin artist Sarah Graham.

Sarah's take on Ten Lords A Leaping was to transform them into ten leaping gingerbread lords. Sarah visited her old primary school, Oughton in Hitchin, to run a workshop with Year 6 pupils for inspiration. 

She asked each of them to design their own leaping gingerbread lord, which they loved, and has combined elements from their designs into each of the 10 lords featured on the snowman. 

The design was very festive and also ties in nicely with Sarah's work, which often features food and sweet treats.

Delighted Danny added: "Lord Sugar was painted by the very talented local artist Sarah Graham, who is also thrilled to see that Lord Sugar flew back to see us all again this Christmas."

RELATED STORIES

Hitchin: Have you spotted new arrivals in our town centre this week

Hitchin: The heartwarming story behind Sarah Graham's festive Snowman

Snow joke: Hitchin bids fond goodbye to our much-loved snowmen as they return to the North Pole