Hundreds of people came together to take part in the annual Braintree Carnival.

The 56th instalment of the popular town even, which took place on Saturday, saw community groups start things off with a procession through the streets where a variety of floats were shown off to the public.

Once the procession finished, the carnival queen Holly Cresswell and princesses Bonnie Bunch and Alice Baxter announced the official opening of the carnival. Visitors were able to look at the many stalls set up and enjoy the rides on offer at a funfair.

The event was brought to a close by DJ and vocalist Loren Sheppard.

Speaking after the event, carnival committee chairman Martin Green said: “The carnival seemed to go really well and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun.

“We were worried about the weather and all the rain that was around and I would say it wasn’t as busy as other years because of that.

“The wind meant we had to cancel a few events for health and safety reasons, but on the whole we were really pleased with how it went.

“We’re already starting to prepare for next year’s carnival.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into it and we need as much time as we can to make sure we’re ready for next year.”