thousands of people enjoyed Pershore's annual plum festival, according to organisers who hailed the event a success.

For the second year running, the festival - on Bank Holiday Monday - included a farmer's market.

It was the first opportunity farmers had to stage a market in Pershore since the turn of the year, following the ravages of the foot and mouth crisis.

The number of plum producers displaying at the day-long festival was almost double the previous year's total - up from 21 to 30.

Cookery books featuring plum recipes sold like hot cakes in the sunshine, with Bredon Hill Rotary Club, which produced the books, having to shut up its stall before the official end of the event, when supplies ran out.

It was a similar story for Pershore Rotarians, who sold out on their bottle stall, with proceeds going to boost the funds of the Acorns Hospice.

Other charity stalls, based in St Andrew's Gardens, also reported a roaring trade.

"It was a really successful day," said David Shaw, who founded the plum festival five years ago and is the event's secretary.

"There was a steady stream of customers throughout the day," he added.

The town's Abbey staged an exhibition of plum memorabilia and leaflets about how to protect orchards.

"One of the main reasons for founding the plum festival was to generate interest in local food production and we wanted to encourage local food producers to sell their produce locally," said Mr Shaw.

"We had people giving advice on plum tree growing and identifying varieties of plums."

He went on: "I'm sure the plum festival has made a difference in people's appreciation of the importance of the local fruit."

This year's event gave festival-goers an opportunity to see how the town's newest plum variety - the Emblem - was progressing.