AS organisers of this year's Devizes Arts Festival drew a welcome breath after more than two weeks of events they were able to celebrate a record breaking 2016.

Historian Lucy Worsley got the festival off to a fantastic start when her sell-out appearance in the Corn Exchange set the mood for 18 days of music, comedy, dance and celebrity talks.

She was quickly followed by comedian Rob Beckett whose reputation meant tickets for his show sold out well in advance.

In the final week TV documentary maker Sir Robert Winston was another big drawn while The Blues Brothers featuring Paul Jones were one of the final acts that helped bring the curtain down in style.

Festival chairman Margaret Bryant said: "We’ve still to finalise our figures, but the results are likely to exceed expectations with 2016 looking like being one of the most successful ever and we could be on course for a record year at the box office.

"We have worked hard to put on a programme with wide appeal across a variety of art forms, which clearly proved popular with several sell-out events early on.

“So many people have come together to put on a fantastic festival and I would like to thank all our sponsors and supporters, our band of Friends, the audiences, the committee and of course the artists for giving us over two weeks of tremendous performance.”

She said Festival Friends, who have the chance to book early and buy discounted tickets had got this year's sales off to a great start by buying 1,180 tickets worth over £14,000, and for the first time all seats were available to buy on line.

Mrs Bryant said: "Best sellers included historians Lucy Worsley and Alison Weir, comedian Rob Beckett, Sir Robert Winston, The Blues Brothers and Café Scientific. The introduction of an autumn event was a well supported innovation – Michael Portillo entertained a packed Corn Exchange last November – and we hope this will become an established date in the Festival calendar."