THOUSANDS attended the annual Jehovah's Witnesses regional convention at the BIC.

The three-day event attracted more than 6,500 people from the across the south on the final day of the gathering last Sunday.

Bournemouth's convention is one of 21 taking place across the UK this year.

Around 200 visitors over the course of the weekend attended after a thorough invitation campaign from event organised.

The convention also saw 24 people become baptised on Saturday.

Functions took over the whole of the BIC and the program featured 54 presentations over the three days, each exploring the theme, “Be Courageous".

Many items featured short films that illustrated how people may need to show courage in our lives today.

A highlight for guests on Sunday's programme was the feature length movie “The Story of Jonah—A Lesson in Courage and Mercy”, which proved so popular the auditoriums were full for the showing.

Joanna Dase, who was part of the convention organising team, said: "Attendees of all ages left feeling upbeat, refreshed and determined to apply the advice from the Bible."

The convention has been coming to Bournemouth for many years and is likely to return next year.