THOUSANDS of people lined the streets of Poole to celebrate the town’s first carnival in twelve years.

A sea of colour swept through the town as the procession passed the cheering crowds on Monday.

The parade, which included more than 40 floats, set off from Seaview Road, travelled along Ashley Road and finished up at Branksome Recreation Ground.

See all our pictures of Poole Carnival in a gallery 

Richard Wilson, vice chair of Poole Carnival Committee, said the event was a huge success.

He said: “It was fantastic.

“What astounded me was the amount of people that came out to see the carnival in Ashley Road. There were thousands of them. It’s the most any of us have ever seen there.”

Mr Wilson said the event, which took two years to organise, was the first major carnival in the town since the late 1970s.

He said: “There was a carnival of sorts in 2002, but it wasn’t anywhere near as big or as long as this one. The one before that was in 1977.”

Following the success of this year’s event, Mr Wilson said there will be another carnival in Poole in the near future.

He said: “The response from the public has been overwhelming. We will definitely have another one but we don’t know exactly when it will be yet.”

The mayor of Poole, Cllr Peter Adams, praised organisers for putting on a “smashing show”.

He said: “It was superb. The actual procession along Ashley Road was fantastic. It was filled with people all the way along.

He added: “I must give thanks to all the organisers and the volunteers for making it such a great event.”