RED Arrows pilots marked the centenary of the RAF with a surprise smoke trail in front of thousands of air show visitors.

The team flew at Airbourne in Eastbourne on Friday in front of packed crowds along the seafront.

But rather than just the usual red, white and blue smoke trails, the pilots also created a giant 100 in smoke in the sky.

Flight Lieutenant Toby Keeley was born in Eastbourne, and painted a heart shape in smoke above his home town in his role as Red 7.

He was a member of the Hailsham Air Training Corps before joining the RAF in 2003, and it is his second year on the team.

Organisers say the annual show, now in its 26th year, enjoyed some of its busiest days on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, despite some changeable weather.

The air show ended with a spectacular fireworks display on Sunday.

There were plenty of activities on the ground, including the RAF virtual reality simulator, Airbourne’s first ever big wheel, and a Lego brick red jet cockpit.

Work has now started on collecting and counting the cash left in donation buckets and from programme sales, while cash from the town’s car parks has already revealed an increase.

Eastbourne Borough Council’s cabinet member for tourism Cllr Margaret Bannister said all the attractions made for a “memorable” year.

The hospitality, bandstand concerts, and exclusive seating were sold out for most of the days.

Cllr Bannister said: "Despite some challenging weather, we managed some impressive flying displays across the event and extended and rescheduled the flying programme wherever we could, to safely get as many displays here as possible."

To find out more or to donate, visit: eastbourneairshow.com.