Appalling weather played havoc with Worthing's summer showpiece seafront festival but it still ended on a sunny and successful note.

Tens of thousands of people flocked to the town for the three-day extravaganza despite some of the poorest July conditions in almost 20 years.

This year a new group of organisers worked feverishly against the clock to unveil a programme of events which was both exciting and varied.

They even managed to entice the famous Red Arrows aerobatic display team, which was booked to do a 24-minute display over the sea on Friday.

But low cloud and heavy rain forced the RAF to cancel, disappointing hundreds of spectators who huddled in what shelter they could find.

Inevitably, the sky had cleared by 3pm, enabling pyrotechnic experts to rig up a fireworks display on the Southern Pavilion of the pier.

And the spectacular show more than made up for earlier disappointments.

It was a chilly, blowy night but thousands packed on to the shingle to watch what turned out to be a dazzling carnival of colour and noise.

Saturday dawned with renewed optimism and the drizzle held off until early afternoon but, with impeccable timing, the weather closed in just as a low-level RAF Tornado rocketed into view from the east.

It was replaced by a Second World War Lancaster bomber which lumbered over the seafront in a slow but graceful fashion.

A Jaguar performed miracles in undeniably dreadful weather and it came as little surprise when a Hawk fighter made one pass over the town, then turned tail and headed back to base.

The rain had by now set in with a vengeance but Splash FM roadies battled against the elements to prepare a stage and associated equipment for a free concert in Steyne Gardens, starring The Real Thing, that evening.

By 7pm barely 200 people had decided to brave the deluge, plus 100 or so guests in the VIP marquee.

As the gale-propelled downpour slanted horizontally across Steyne Gardens, support act SC3 risked exposure to put on a highly-polished performance.

Moments after they had left the stage, and with the tarpaulin roof starting to sag alarmingly due to the volume of water, disaster struck.

As a roadie tried to tease the reservoir of water over the front of the stage with a long pole, most of it cascaded on to the electrics and all the power went down.

Frontman Dave Benson Phillips then had the toughest gig of his life - trying to keep a shivering audience entertained for half-an-hour without the aid of microphones or lights.

He led a bout of community singing, including Singin' In The Rain and 1,000 Green Bottles, and the cluster of hardy souls determined to see the evening out responded in good spirit.

Worthing finally lived up to its sunny reputation on Sunday, with hordes of people thronging the seafront.

Many took rides along the seafront on historic buses attending a rally in West Parade or wandered around the dragsters at the custom car show in Steyne Gardens.

The pier was packed for a rerun of Saturday's air displays and bars, cafes and restaurants were bursting at the seams.