THE jingle of bells became a familiar sound in Evesham over the weekend as more than 400 Morris dancers descended on the town.

But the sound of wedding bells may not be far off, as the event ended in a proposal.

Music and dance filled the streets for the ninth National Morris Weekend on Saturday and Sunday.

The event has become a regular feature in the town's colourful calendar, and organiser Judy Watkins said despite a bit of rain, the event was definitely not a washout.

"It was really amazing. We've had so many emails since the event saying how much fun people had," she said.

"It is always a brilliant weekend with lovely people, and this year the weather was relatively kind. One show was rained off because we just had a torrential downpour but apart from that it was good.

"It was made even more special by a surprise proposal. One of the young members of our Belle D'Vain dancers was proposed to by her boyfriend, also a dancer, after a big event in the market square on Sunday, in front of everyone. She said yes of course and we were all in tears.

"We had a great turn out from dancers and from members of the public. Our limit is between 450 to 500 dancers, and this year we had around 450 who were putting on free street performances.

"We had a lot of interested members of the public come out to watch the dances, especially on Sunday in Evesham's market square. We had a coach load of people turn up from Swansea, and they really enjoyed themselves.

"Next year is our tenth anniversary so we are already planning that. We are hoping to get everyone who has won the Evesham Stick over the past nine years to reunite at the tenth event, but we shall have to see how that goes."

As well as being a celebration of the Morris dancing tradition, Mrs Watkins said the event is important to help Evesham thrive for years to come.

"Each event we do brings great business to the town. We draw people in, and all the dancers use local shops and pubs and people stay in hotels. It's a very important event for Evesham and we really want to keep it alive. Everyone benefits. We've had people come to see the event one year who come back again the year after, and others who say that after coming down to see the event they have decided to take a holiday in Evesham because it's such as beautiful place."

Any women who want to try their hand at Morris dancing can to go the Fleece at Bretforton on Friday, July 24 for a workshop, starting at 7pm.