A two-day celebration of cycling in Lowestoft has been hailed as a 'fantastic' success.

The inaugural Lowestoft Cycle Festival took centre stage all this weekend, and organisers said that 'several thousand' people had turned out and took part in this successful event.

With this community-organised festival being put on for free for the community, Lowestoft's Royal Green was transformed into three areas that included a tented cycle retail and exhibition village, an entertainment zone for all family to enjoy and an area where you could test ride new cycles, learn cycle maintenance, or take part in a number of guided rides.

The rain held off yesterday, and the sun shone brightly today, as organisers got Lowestoft pedalling. Cyclists, young and old, took part in sponsored rides over two-and-a-miles of the town's seafront, five miles or ten miles.

Children were able to saddle up on their own special scooter and cycle challenge track or take part in fun activities such as free circus workshops, bouncy castles and balloon modelling.

There was also live entertainment with performances from local groups and Lowestoft sixth form college students, Zulu dancer Paul S'wela Thwala and the Waveney Elite Allstarz gymnastics display team.

And there were gasps aplenty as the Spoked Cycle Trials display team showcased their skills, hopping onto skips and large pieces of wood.

Steff Jones, project manager for the Lowestoft Local Links initiative, praised the support of students from the sixth form college who had helped in organising the festival.

She said: 'We were determined from the outset to make the festival a real family fun weekend. Cycling is becoming increasingly popular so we are really looking at ways we can help people to either become cyclists or continue to enjoy it.

'It has been fantastic. Everything has gone according to plan – it has really helped to raise the profile of cycling in the town.'