THOUSANDS of people flocked to a North Yorkshire market town to celebrate its annual carnival yesterday.

The 112th Richmond Meet was hailed a great success after a packed town centre enjoyed the Bank Holiday weather.

Eight painted trucks, some of which had come from York and Lancashire, ten floats and dozens of fancy dress walkers took part in the parade.

There were several jazz and marching bands, including those from Richmond's twin towns in Normandy and Norway.

Christine Hill, the president of the Meet committee, said she was delighted with the way the day had gone, adding: "We couldn't have asked for better, especially with the weather.

"Everybody thoroughly enjoyed it and really got into it. Although we don't know exactly how much, we think we've done very well in the collections.

"The floats were all excellent and everybody excelled themselves and put so much effort into it.

"I think we had more people here than last year and we had more floats enter the procession."

There was £1,000 of prize money to share between the ten categories in the procession, ranging from vehicle-mounted floats to individual fancy dress.

Floats included Reeth Young Farmers, who were dressed as Calendar Girls and won the Comic section, and Richmond Round Table dressed as Pirates of the Caribbean, who came runners-up in the same section.

In the afternoon, people were entertained by music in the Friary garden and on the town's cricket field, which included a display by young Irish dancers.

Yesterday's events were the culmination of a weekend of activity, which included a six-a-side football tournament and disco on Saturday and a church service at St Mary's Church and a gala at Earls Orchard field on Sunday. Fairground rides were available throughout the event.