BARNOLDSWICK'S fireworks fantasia shrugged off the heavy rain and went off with a bang on Sunday, attracting more than 7,000 people.

The event, which was held at Victory Park, also featured fire juggling, a fun fair and live music by up-and-coming soul artist Nate James.

The town has earned reputation for the size and quality of its firework spectacular putting rivals to shame - Skipton had no organised firework display whatsoever this year.

A formidable 36 square-metre LCD screen and video crew relayed images of the performers to the crowd after being loaned for the occasion by Townley City Learning.

Barnoldswick town councillor David Whipp said: "The crowd was up on last year and Nate James proved to be incredibly popular - I think everybody was up dancing or at least tapping their feet when he was on stage.

"There were rivers of traffic going out of the town when it finished so I think we managed to bring in people from places like Skipton, Clitheroe and Nelson."

However, Coun Whipp acknowledged that there had been some complaints over the timing of the main fireworks display. He said: "We were fighting the weather from the start and the pyrotechnicians couldn't set up as early as they would have wished - otherwise, the fireworks would have been ruined by the rain."

Coun Marlene Hill-Crane said: "We put out 2,400 leaflets on Thursday and went round all the schools, so I thought we would get a good turnout."