Exhibitors at Ludlow Food and Drink Festival were so rushed off their feet that they had to stay up through the night to make more supplies.

Organisers have hailed this year’s event as their best ever. About 20,000 visitors from across the UK descended on the south Shropshire town from Friday until yesterday to enjoy the best food and drink that the region has to offer. Some stalls proved so popular they had sold out by Saturday evening.

It prompted an emergency operation in the early hours of Sunday to make more treats.

Festival director Beth Heath said she was thrilled by the success of the event, which attracted 150 exhibitors, a dozen celebrity chefs and scores of experts and competition entrants.

Mrs Heath said: “We’d planned to put on our biggest and best event ever and thankfully that’s what we achieved. We created a new fringe festival on a town centre car park and it was a great success.

“A number of stallholders had sold out by Saturday evening, so they had to stay up into the early hours of Sunday to get more food ready.” The festival featured a clutch of star chefs, who were welcomed by Ludlow’s Michelin-starred cooks Will Holland and Chris Bradley.

Former Michelin-starred Ludlow chefs Claude Bosi, Shaun Hill and Glynn Purnell returned to the town to cook at a ‘pop-up’ restaurant and there were numerous competitions.

Mr Holland, who organised demonstrations, said: “The festival has been exceptional. The line-up of cooks has been incredible.”

Mr Bradley said: “The festival is about everyone – from the kids at colleges who are on cookery courses, to the sole traders, the artisan producers, the star chefs and the producers. It is a great showcase for Ludlow.”

Graeme Perks, from Skillbuilders, which organised a competition to showcase the skills of young chefs, said: “The festival is the best of Ludlow. There is a great team behind it.”

Shropshire councillor Martin Taylor-Smith, who represents Ludlow and was a volunteer steward, said: “It is a fantastic event and Ludlow can be proud.”