Children got their grandparents to sit for portraits as part of a competition organised by a Brentwood care home.

Pupils from Woodlands and St Joseph’s Primary Schools in Hutton were invited to enter by the Leonard Lodge Care Home for the competition about “being a grandparent”.

But the residents were overwhelmed by the number of entries and spent hours judging the portraits.

The original idea was for three age-groups with three winners from each.

The residents found it so hard to choose that they only managed to whittle it down to 18 winners — twice as many.

The portraits showed “a strong bond between children and their grandparents”, the residents found.

Barchester Healthcare had invited the youngsters to the home in Roxwell Gardens, Hutton, with their parents and teachers — along with the grandparents who were the inspiration for the portraits.