Northallerton'S late night festive shopping spree was a huge success.

More than 3,000 people packed into the High Street last Friday evening to make the most of shops staying open longer.

For children the highlight was the arrival of Santa on a horse-drawn vintage omnibus.

He then took up residence in Barker's for youngsters to tell him their wishes for Christmas gifts.

Northallerton mayor Coun Jack Dobson was delighted with the event.

"It was a great success," he said. "All the traders said so and lots of business was done. It was tremendous and the children really enjoyed seeing Santa arrive."

The High Street was closed from 5.30 to 9.30 and Coun Dobson said there had been a few hiccups with traffic but that police "were great in dealing with this."

"Along with the warden they did a superb job on traffic management," he said. "No-one was hurt and everyone had a great time."

The event also included 19 charity stalls in the town hall and music from Northallerton Silver Band, fairground organs, a miniature railway and professional clowns.

Coun Dobson expressed thanks to all who helped organise the event. He said the local auction mart had provided its horse barriers to make sure children were kept safe.

"The evening brought people together for Christmas and that was wonderful," he said. "This is now a firm annual event which gets bigger every year."