IN PICTURES: Rain holds off for Leyland Festival parade

Musicians, floats and dancers dressed in their favourite storybook characters all showed off their outfits to the entertainment of residents.

The mayor of South Ribble, councillor John Rainsbury waved to onlookers from a 1964 cream convertible Morris Minor with mayoress Shirley Rainsbury.

Chairman of the festival Tony Harrison, of the Rotary Club, said: “The parade was a success. The outfits were excellent, people had gone to a lot of time and trouble taking up the theme of World Books. Six hundred people turned up which was encouraging.

“The weather was fine for the parade but the rain started at about 2.30pm and that put a dampener on the afternoon. Unfortunately the ground was hard so it started flooding.”