Whether it be a priceless snap of a slip in the snow or a grinning horse posing for the camera, there's nothing like an unusual, quirky picture to raise a chuckle.

With less than two weeks to go until the start of Leicester Comedy Festival, we are encouraging readers to get into the laughing spirit by sending in their funniest photographs.

The likes of Jimmy Carr, Sean Lock, Stewart Lee, Julian Clary and Sarah Millican will be entertaining audiences with side-splitting quips and razor-sharp repartee during the 17-day extravaganza, which starts on Friday, February 5.

But in the meantime we are inviting readers to provide the humour in our new competition, You've Been Snapped.

The Leicester Mercury has teamed up with festival organisers to offer one lucky winner a bumper package of tickets to see some of the festival's biggest acts and top up-and-coming stars of the future.

To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is send us your funny snaps with contact details and a brief account of when and where they were taken.

Our deputy picture editor Andy Baker will be helping to pick the winner.

He said: "At some time or other everyone has taken photos that provoke a bit of a giggle, whether they are intentionally funny or not.

"We're looking to find Leicester's funniest picture. It doesn't matter if it was taken years ago or if it has been set up especially to enter the competition.

"The only rule is that the person who submits the photograph must have taken the picture."

The comedy snaps linked to this story of a painted face, a laughing horse and a slapstick fall in the snow demonstrate the sort of thing we are looking for.

If you think you can do better e-mail your pictures to:

picturedesk@leicestermercury.co.uk

Alternatively, send them by post to You've Been Snapped, Leicester Mercury, St George Street, Leicester, LE1 9FQ.

The winner will be picked by the Leicester Mercury's photographic team on Wednesday, February 3.