Stewards and officials kept the retiring chairman Henry Cator completely in the dark about the grand finale to the Royal Norfolk Show.Mr Cator, who is standing down after 10 years at the helm of the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association's council, was startled when am open-top Bentley arrived to take him and two long-serving stewards on a final tour of the grand ring.

Stewards and officials kept the retiring chairman Henry Cator completely in the dark about the grand finale to the Royal Norfolk Show.

Mr Cator, who is standing down after 10 years at the helm of the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association's council, was startled when am open-top Bentley arrived to take him and two long-serving stewards on a final tour of the grand ring.

Fellow stewards, who were watching the final displays to mark the end of the show, were invited to line the side of the grand ring to salute Mr Cator, and the retiring commentator Anthony Stimpson and the former show committee chairman, Simon Macfarlane.

Mr Cator, who announced his intention to stand down at the end of the year at the last annual meeting, will have served the association as chairman of council for 11 years next January.

A chartered surveyor, he recently started his own independent property and planning consultancy,

Cator + Co, based at Top

Barn, Salhouse, near Norwich, with a small specialist team.

Show organisers were delighted with the final attendance on the last day, said the association's chief executive, John Purling.

"We were so lucky with the weather on Thursday. The showground was choc-a-bloc in some areas and we were really pleased with the support for the expanded Food Hall. It seems to be working really well," he added.

With a total of 46,500 visitors on the opening day, the provisional total attendance for the two-day show will be

at least 92,500, said Mr Purling.

"We're still totalling up the ticket sales but we're fairly confident that the final total will be considerably higher," he added.

Last year, the show, which was blessed by two glorious days of sunshine, attracted a total crowd of 105,629 - breaking the previous record set in 1995.