The town of Mere came to a standstill on a glorious late summer evening on Saturday as the Wessex Grand Prix carnival circuit rolled through its historic streets.

The Wiltshire town's annual carnival was the third on the Wessex circuit list, and dozens of brightly-lit carts and walking entries gathered on a warm evening to wow thousands who had lined the streets.

Earlier in the day, a series of events including a children's fancy dress competition and procession, and a market took place.

With cost and increased safety regulations making a walking entry more viable than ever, older clubs such as Aliens CC impressed the crowd with its Cinders formation dancing through the streets.

Individual entrants also shone, with perhaps the most colourful being Samantha Callow's Game On Game Over entry. The one-woman satirical look at a Wheel of Fortune- style game included a shock of pink hair and fantastic shiny silver platform boots.

Wild Things Carnival Club made the crowds chuckle with its cheeky honey-themed entry Bee Gees, complete with a Queen Bee on a throne on its illuminated cart, while Carina Haines' walking entry was perhaps the most extravagant a 10ft-tall vision in scorching red and gold of the goddess of fire Hestia.

As well as the Wild Things' bees, there was an animal theme running through many entries, with the local Brownies donning woodland creature outfits and Mark Sivell's witty It's Behind You saw him followed the entire length of the circuit by a polar bear looming on his shoulder, while Foxy Lady CC mixed the fire and animals theme with her Bat Out of Hell effort.

The animal theme continued with perennial favourites Just George's CC clever Moo Lamb Rouge cart, complete with the surreal image of a human dressed as a lamb dressed in a Union Jack bodice, dancing in front of the famous Moulin Rouge windmills.

As each cart went past, they were mixed up with the walkers, and the animals theme continued with Alexandra Morgan's Spirit of the Butterfly.

Perhaps the most elaborate cart was Carousel CC's Noah's Ark, with the animals walking two by two alongside.