Hatherleigh Carnival was heralded as a great success at the weekend, with thousands of people coming to join in with the fun.

It began at 5am on Saturday, with flaming tar barrels pulled down through the streets of the town to scare evil away for another year.

Cindy Squire, carnival chairwoman, said: “From the moment the first set of unlit barrels were pulled up through the streets of Hatherleigh on Friday evening until the second set of burning barrels were pulled back down the streets just over 24 hours later, we knew we had experienced one of the best carnivals ever!”

Carnival Day on Saturday with a two-minute silence at 11am followed by the town crier competition, with town criers from across Devon. Hatherleigh junior crier Harry Lewis and young winners Freya and Fred, from Hatherleigh Primary School, also joined in.

Cindy continued: “Carnival evening was absolutely unbelievable, with fabulous competition entries and thousands of people thronging the streets. Twenty-four tableaux, four bands, one cheerleader group, nine walking groups, over 40 burning torches, one burning flame and two crosses meandered through the streets.”

Thirteen local businesses and shops took part in the window shop competition and after a hard deliberation from the judges, Northpark Vets took the crown with their window titled ‘When the vet goes away’.

As well as competitions, the carnival saw brother and sister duo Harry Phillips, five, and Nora, three, crowned Prince and Princess and Miss Belle Trenaman as Carnival Queen.

Saturday evening saw a second tar barrel pull and a fabulous ‘party in the square’.

The carnival committee extended a big thank-you to everyone who helped make the carnival such a success.