Shirley Elford, a long time Cootamundra resident, died recently leaving her beloved gnomes orphaned.

Mrs Elford, to the bemusement of friends and family, was a passionate collector of the vertically challenged works of garden art, amassing an enormous collection during her lifetime.

A rescue mission mounted by the Lower Blue Mountains Rotary Club in Glenbrook, with the assistance of Cootamundra Rotarians has resulted in the collection now being prepared for a mammoth gnome exhibition to be held on Australia Day next year.

The gnome rescue squad, complete with white coats and obligatory little red hats, spent a full day collecting the orphans.

According to local Rotarian Neil Wilcox there were gnomes in every part of the garden and on the walls of the Berthong Street home, ranging from very small to super-sized in stature.

The gnomes are currently being fostered during restoration in the gnome capital Glenbrook and will form the centrepiece of the Annual Gnome Convention prior to the gnomes being offered up for adoption - to good homes only of course.