CARNIVAL fever swept through Andover’s streets on Sunday – the culmination of a record-breaking year for Andover Carnival.

Thousands of residents lined the route to catch a glimpse of the hundreds of participants in all their finery as the procession started at the Grain Silo, on Weyhill Road, and worked its way down to meet the walking procession at Beech Hurst, before continuing along Bridge Street followed by Eastern Avenue, before finishing at Vigo Recreation Ground.

The open theme once again gave the procession entrants carte blanche to do as they wished, and the result was a hugely colourful and varied display to please the crowds.

The walking procession joined the 24 floats and other vehicles, including police cars and buses in joining in with the community spirit.

Carnival committee chairman Alun Grace said: “It was a very, very good day and I have had lots of good feedback from people.

“When I left the park at 1pm to go to the start of the procession, I have never seen as many people there in previous years.

“Last year was a brilliant year and we thought ‘how are we going to follow that?’ “We were worried about the weather, but it seemed to be even better.”

This year’s winners of the charities and community group category were Balksbury School with Alice in Wonderland, in joint second place were Andover Community Theatre and Andover Childminders Assocation, and in third place was the Round Table with Monty Python.

The winners of the walking procession were the Enham trust with the Lion King, in second place was Knights Enham Infant School with Brazil, and in third place were the 7th and 17th Andover Brownies celebrating their centenary.

The winners of the business category were Mitutoyo, who dressed up as Egyptians, and Valley Leisure came in third for their Wizard of Oz theme, as Andover Childminders Association placed second in another category.