CARNIVAL teams lit up the streets of Blandford with colourful costumes and decorated floats on Saturday evening.

The parade, led by town mayor, Cllr Lynn Lindsay, began at Holland Way, where excited entrants made final preparations to their floats and finery.

Carnival royalty, Miss Teenager, Ria Lillywhite, 14, Carnival Princess, Rubi Crane, 12, and her attendants, sisters Lucy and Emily Park, aged 12 and 10, fought off big night nerves to delight crowds with dazzling smiles and dresses.

Just Georges of Sturminster Newton brought their giant, three-wagon float, transformed from last year’s Moo Lamb Rouge entry into “O’Rafferty’s Motor Car”.

Inspired by the Val Doonican hit, the reigning Wessex Circuit comic float champions brought a riot of green, white and orange to Blandford, as brightly dressed tinkers rode in small wooden cars mounted to the float.

The small, but perfectly formed float of Shaftesbury St John Ambulance saw a crew of pint-sized pirates ride in a miniature Elizabethan sailing ship, mounted to a caravan trailer.

With two masts made from thick bamboo cane and deck rails fashioned from curtain poles, Mike Shoemark’s scaled-down schooner proved ideal for its miniature crew.

Blandford St John Ambulance cadets went “wild”, dressing as creatures from the animal kingdom, while young recruits with the service’s Badger unit followed a sporting theme as trainee Olympians.

Veteran collectors, Rosie Wilds and Janet Hinton dressed as “Queen Bee” and “Recycled Teenager” to bring colour and fun to the task of fundraising.

Magnum Carnival Club found inspiration in Dorset pubs. Team members dressed as a cricketer, poacher, and a sinister silent woman, in homage to inns at Shroton, Piddletrenthide, and Wareham.

About 50 young dancers from Blandford’s Studio B dance group performed a series of tightly choreographed routines as the parade made its way to the Marsh and Ham car park.