Thousands of people arrived in Oswestry to watch the town’s annual Christmas parade which has raised £18,000 for charity.

The Borderland Rotary Club has heralded Saturday’s parade a success after saying 38 organisations took part.

The event started at Lower Brook Street at 11am with floats travelling through five streets.

Jonathan Jones, from the Rotary club’s events committee, said: “The parade went extremely well. It lasted for about an hour and it was fantastic. We had more people involved than last year.

“The weather also made it very Christmassy.

“There were all sorts of floats. We didn’t run a particular theme but there were quite a lot of festive-themed floats. I would think there were about 2,000 to 4,000 people watching the parade. It raised about £18,000.”

Pam Griffin, an Oswestry resident, said: “It was a brilliant parade and it was better than last year because they had more floats. My favourite part was seeing a Robin Reliant dressed as a reindeer – I loved it.”

Elaine Channon, mayor of Oswestry, said: “It was an excellent event. It was amazing how many floats turned out in view of the weather.”

Earlier it was feared the event could be hit when water work in Victoria Road overran.

The money raised will go towards Rotary charities within the Oswestry area.