IT was good versus bad on the streets of Pershore as the town's annual carnival hit the road on Monday.

Thousands of people flocked to see the procession of floats featuring an array of goodies and baddies in keeping with the heroes against villains theme.

The string of motorised and walking floats were led by a fire engine, which was closely followed by the St Andrew's Pipe Band from Cheltenham.

Then came the carnival king and queen in a Morgan motor car, their attendants and the carnival brochure design winners.

A wasp was the first baddy to appear as he fought the good bees, and this was closely followed by school floats and those organised by local groups and clubs.

All were raising money for the Acorns Children's Hospice and the Midland's Air Ambulance shaking their buckets as they went.

Colin Shepherd, carnival committee chairman, said: "We have had a fantastic day. There was far in excess of the amount of people here last year."

His grandchildren, Sam and Katie Shepherd, were also in the parade, with nine-year-old Katie a design winner and seven-year-old Sam collecting money.

Sam said: "I enjoyed it and I collected some money along the way. I had to get a second bucket."

Other onlookers were visiting the carnival for the first time.

Owen Jones, of St John's, Worcester, was with his wife Laura and 20-month-old son Harry.

He said: "Harry has enjoyed it so far. We are going to go to the fair and the fire station open day. It's got a good balance of things for adults and things for children.

"It's a great family day out, especially as it's free."

Amy Martin, also of Worcester, was with her children Erin, six, and Dexter, four, and their gran, Lesley Faulkner.

She said: "Erin's favourite part was the pipes and Dexter liked tractors."

There were a range of events also taking place on the Abbey Park including a dog show and a huge variety of games, activities and stalls. Committee member Jenny Holmes said there were 60 stalls and 30 for the farmers market.

Local blacksmith Steve Cooper was showing a horse sculpture he had created from horse shoes and giving demonstrations throughout the afternoon.

The event was set to close in the evening with a concert and firework display.