Record crowds turned out to watch the seventh Great Yarmouth Classic beach volleyball competition at the weekend.

The event ended yesterday with fourth seeds Bill Smith and Russell Watson winning a hard fought final, defeating top seeds Chris Gregory and Jake Sheaf to win the Great Yarmouth Classic.

Earlier in the afternoon, second seeds Lizzie Smith and Jess Grimson won the women's title - their first volleyball beach tour triumph - defeating third seeds Anna Dyakiewicz and Petra Jurikova.

The Yarmouth event launched this year's VolleyBall England Beach Tour. The tour also goes to Margate, Skegness and Weston- super-Mare, with the finals in Bournemouth on August Bank Holiday weekend.

More that 100 people also took the opportunity to try their hand at the game on Volleyball England's Go Spike courts.

Karen Shilton, Outdoor Volleyball Officer, Volleyball England said: 'This has been the biggest crowd we have ever seen in Great Yarmouth. We booked the weather and spectators have seen the top beach volleyball players in the country compete in an excellent tournament. What has been most significant in recent years has been the growth in the number of women's teams. We had 23 this year and when we started we only had eight women players.'

Alan Carr, Head of Tourism Great Yarmouth said: 'We had a brilliant weekend. It has been fantastic welcoming back Volleyball England's beach tour under cloudless skies. The promenade was packed all weekend, making such a difference after the cold and wet weather we have had in recent weeks.'

A Norfolk schools' tournament was staged on Friday. Eighty students took part in the competition. Alderman Peel High School won the boys under 16 and Stalham High won the girls under 16 tournaments. East Norfolk 6th Form College won the under 18 title.