A HISTORY weekend that drew thousands of people to Malmesbury has been judged a major success, with business leaders now hoping it will return every year.

BBC History Magazine’s four-day festival saw nearly 40 top name historians speak to more than 5,000 people on subjects from the execution of Charles I to Viking invasions, Richard III and the First World War.

It opened last Thursday, with a lecture by former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown and also included talks by TV presenter Dan Snow and award-winning author Hilary Mantel.

The events, some of which sold out weeks in advance, were staged at four venues in Malmesbury, including the abbey, and attracted history buffs from London, Bristol, the Midlands and further afield.

Restaurants, pubs and hotels did well, prompting the Malmesbury and District Chamber of Commerce to call for it to be held annually.

Chamber chairman Aimee Frankham said: “The response from the business community has been very positive. The BBC History Weekend brought a lot of people into Malmesbury and the eateries did fantastic trade.”

Mrs Frankham felt staging the festival had a “massive kudos” for the town and BBC.

She said: “It was obviously good for the BBC to have their history event in the country’s oldest borough. We would like to see it here every year.”

BBC History Magazine teamed up with Malmesbury School to invite A-level history students to meet speakers and introduce talks.

Festival director Dave Musgrove said: “We had 40 great speakers, across four venues and four days, starting with Paddy Ashdown and ending with Dan Snow and Janina Ramirez.

“Too many highlights to mention, but the real pleasure for me and all the speakers was brilliant questions that came from the audience. Every talk could have gone on for another hour with the quality of the queries that were flowing from the floor.”

Mr Musgrove said more than 5,000 tickets had been sold for the events. It was the second time the magazine had staged a festival and both had been in Malmesbury.

No decision has been made on the location of a 2015 BBC History Weekend, but Mr Musgrove said Malmesbury was a “fantastic venue”.