Halesworth was a riot of fun and colour today as the town held its annual carnival and parade.

Residents lined the roads as a parade with a 1970s theme was led by the South American sounds of Suffolk School of Samba as it made its way at 1pm from the Blyth Road industrial estate to the town's park.

Made up of floats and walking groups, the parade included people dressed up as hippies, gruesome looking rockers, groovy dancers, Scooby Doo, and an appearance by the Beccles carnival queen and her attendants.

At the park with Britain's fourth strongest man Adrian Smith dazzled crowds with his feats of strength in a ring and there was a display by Kuk Sool Won martial arts school - their first in the town for 20 years.

Families were also entertained by the K9 Dancing Dogs Display Team, heavy horses from N and J Horse Drawn Carriage, a Phoenix Bird of Prey Rescue stand and bungee running.

Other attractions include donkey rides, children's entertainment show, bouncy castle and rides.

The carnival fun also included a plastic duck race with 1,500 of the toys released onto the river.

Today's fun antics were organised by the Halesworth Lions and was the 25th carnival organised by the group.

Wendy Mendham, press officer for the Halesworth Lions, said: 'We were blessed with the weather and everybody turned out for it.

'We were completely full of stalls in the park and the programme in the ring was brilliant.

'All in all it was a great day, full of people being happy in the sunshine enjoying themselves.'

The overall winner of the best parade participant competition was Beech House, which won the DC Patrick Shield and was also named as the best walkers.

The winner of the youth section was the Edgar Sewter play school and out of school club, the best trade entry was Lowestoft's King Alfred pub and the best charity was the Bramfield Stepping Stones Pre-School.

The carnival is one of three fund-raising events organised every year by the 30 members of the Halesworth Lions, the others being the Heveningham Hall Country Fair and the winter street fair.