FAMILIES gathered in their hundreds to enjoy a sun-kissed day packed with fun events at the annual Fair Oak Carnival.

Youngsters donned 'fat suits' to battle it out as Sumo warriors, while others screamed on funfair rides or tried their hand at circus skills.

The youngsters threw diabolos high into the air before catching them on lengths of string fastened between wooden sticks.

Other capers included a bungee run, which saw pairs of contestants trying to outrun each other along a plastic runway, before the lengths of elastic which anchored them to their starting points snapped them back again.

A space hopper race was equally exciting, with only one of the contestants managing to stay on his bouncy round vehicle.

Stalls lined the New Century Park venue hawking second-hand goods and offering prizes in various tombolas and raffles.

Hundreds of children and adults, many in fancy dress, also took part in a parade led by a marching band around the village.

Annie Dawes, a Fair Oak resident and IBM software tester, said she and husband Tim had planned an afternoon of gardening.

But children Oliver, 9, and Sam, 11, had other ideas, involving a three-match bout in the Sumo ring. She said: "It was the boys that hassled us to come up here. We were going to do the gardening.

"It's nice to see the community of Fair Oak enjoying themselves and eating ice creams rather than being angry about the travellers," she added, referring to the group of travellers who have recently moved into a field in nearby Blackberry Drive.

Helper Elaine Robbins said: "I think people are enjoying it.

"It's a pretty good turnout. We're so pleased about the weather because it's one of those aspects you can't control, so we've been very lucky with that."

Older revellers rounded off the day by bopping on into the night to disco hits played from a mobile music system.