QUESTIONS are being asked today after the much-heralded Roar on the Shore turned into a bit of damp squib for thousands of visitors to Bournemouth last night.

Up to 150,000 people crammed the shoreline to watch the event, which promised sixty seconds of spectacular pyrotechnics with 114,000 fireworks going off all at once in a world attempt.

In fact the episode lasted about just five seconds before the barge on the water burst into flames leaving the crowds confused and bewildered - and then angry, judging by comments emailed into the Echo overnight.

Here's the Hallmark Productions video of the fireworks

And here's our video...

Pete and Verity Bradshaw wrote: "We were expecting to see something that last nearly a minute, looking pretty like Disney, rather than an incendiary bomb. There was a huge sense of disappointment."

Another correspondent added: "Spectacular it was not".

To compound things, the town was gridlocked afterwards with some visitors taking three hours to get out of Bournemouth, adding to the frustration.

"A terrible waste of time and money," said one emailer.

Correspondent Harry Hince said: "What a disappoinment tonight was. I've seen better displays in my neighbour's gardens.

"Thousands were let down by this non-event. With no apologies people were left feeling really let down."

Bournemouth town centre manager Roger Parker told the BBC they would talk to the organisers Fantastic Fireworks, because officials were also under the impression they would go on for longer.

Mr Parker also said the traffic was inevitable with Bournemouth's road system and that people should think about parking further out of town and using the park and rides.

After claiming a world record, Managing Director of Fantastic Fireworks Jon Culverhouse said: "I know from the spectators' point of view it was probably over too quickly, but we had to get the rockets up as quickly as possible in order to claim the record."

Click here to read the story from our reporter who was at the event and all the comments made by readers. Click here to read the organisers' response.

The Echo will be publishing the timetable for the weekend's events in Saturday's paper and online