THE STREETS of Bishop's Waltham came alive with colour and music on Saturday when a traditional summer carnival and fete was staged.

Crowds lined the streets as a record number of floats processed through the village.

The historic palace ruins made for an impressive backdrop to the annual event organised by Bishop's Waltham Rotary Club.

Stalls, refreshment stands and a host of sideshows lined the walls of the old palace and even the weather defied the forecast as residents enjoyed unbroken sunshine. Guest of honour was Winchester mayor Jean Hammerton, herself a Bishop's Waltham resident. She said: "It was a great honour to lead the procession in the mayoral car and I was proud to have my daughter Kate with me. I would like to congratulate the Rotarians for yet again staging a wonderful event that the whole village thoroughly enjoys."

Entertainment was also provided by marching bands in fancy dress and skateboard demonstrations. Also on show was the skateboard bidding to become the world's longest ever built, ridden by local teenager Joel Spaven.

Money raised from the event will also go towards building a skatepark in the village which 16-year-old Joel has spent years campaigning for.

Organiser Pete Yeoman said: "We picked the theme of Wheels for this year's carnival to tie in with the skatepark appeal but as always local charities will also benefit from today's events."

Steve Webber, president of Bishop's Waltham Rotary Club, said: You can see what this event means to everyone, and with the sun shining too, it couldn't have gone better." The carnival was a hit with locals, too. Tracey Rigby, 27, was at her first carnival with her family after moving to the village last year. She said: "This is an old style traditional event and one that should certainly keep going. It has a wonderful atmosphere."

In total the carnival and fete raised an impressive £4,000 for local charities. Much of the money will go towards The Rotary Club's charity fund for a new skateboard park in the town. The carnival window dressing competition was won for the third year running by the florists Bobby Flook with a display including a wheelbarrow, a rotary wheel and spare car wheel decorated with flowers.

Runners up were Hawthorn Interiors and Pat Staples.

Rotary president Steve Webber said: "This was possibly one of the biggest and most successful carnivals we have run, and certainly the proceeds for our charity fund will be a record figure."