Ref. 27290/5THE first community day for the people of Bradford on Avon and surrounding villages to air their views and celebrate the community has been labelled a resounding success.

Organisers estimate around 1,500 people were at Sunday's event at any one time.

Organiser David Gregory said: "I got a lot of enjoyment from seeing it all happen after a lot of hard work setting it up.

"The weather was spectacular and we had around 100 stands celebrating all that's best in Bradford.

"We achieved a lot considering the resources we had.

"We are going to wait and see what feedback we get from people about the day, but I think next year we will need to raise more money to pay for it this year we did it on a shoestring."

Bradford band BlackBud led the music from the main stage. Band manager Grant Newton said: "The community day was great for the band with a really good turnout and we completely sold out of CD's.

"They then closed the day with a gig at the Riverside Inn which was absolutely packed."

One of the aims of the day was to canvas opinion on ways to improve traffic flow in Bradford.

A leaflet outlining a series of new walks around the town was also launched.

Betty Parr, leader of the transport working group, said: "I handed out at least 300 leaflets about the new walks.

"We just need to get more people in Bradford out of their cars.

"They may not know they could be in town just as quickly if they walked along the many little alleyways and paths in Bradford."