SPIRITS were high at the fourth St Peter's Church Annual Autumn Fayre, as families enjoyed a day in the sun.

Over forty stalls covered the grounds of the church and attracted the most visitors in the event's history.

People of all ages were invited to witness the dog show, pig races and ferret competition.

Interactive activities, including dipping ducks, the human fruit machine and crockery smashing gave those at the fayre a chance to get hands-on.

A display of classical cars attracted motoring connoisseurs whilst those with a passion for a good view could climb the church tower to witness the fayre from above.

Prizes were awarded to the winners of the grand raffle and the treasure hunt.

Sandwiches, cakes and pavlovas were provided by a catering team made up of members from the church and a barbecue ensured range of hot food was available.

The new event boasted at this year's fayre was the 'Bishop's Waltham Bakes' competition, judged by local cookery expert Christine Lanfear.

Malcolm Wearn, an organiser for the event said: "It was the 4th year that we'd done the event and something in the order of 1,500 people turned up.

"There was a great feeling of 'oh, I haven't seen you in a while,' as people bumped into old friends.

"The sun was shining all day and we made something like £8,000 in total, but it was primarily an event for the community - the money making is an added bonus that we are very grateful for."