It was just like the heyday of old-fashioned English summer bank holidays as thousands of people packed Worthing seafront for the town's annual Rotary Carnival.

Scorching temperatures brought out the crowds for the 80th procession organised by the Rotary movement, which is this year celebrating its centenary.

But while the 2005 parade was considerably better than last year's, it still fell short of the carnivals formerly staged in Worthing, with fewer floats entering compared with only a few years ago.

However, the procession was bolstered by pom pom troupes, marching bands, bellydancers, people in fancy dress and lots of colourful balloons.

The carnival was led by the Corps of Drums Society, whose drummers, buglers and pipers played the National Anthem on the greensward at Goring before moving off.

They were followed by Carnival Princess Shannon Gregg, 11, a pupil at Downsbrook Middle School, Worthing, who rode in the back of an open-topped BMW provided by motor dealers Chandlers.

The mayor, Councillor Nick John, waved at spectators from the upper level of an open-topped double-decker bus, accompanied by youth mayor Hannah McGrath and John Cherry, chairman of the Worthing and West Worthing Rotary Clubs' organising committee.

Despite the blazing heat, John Hunnisett, of Lewes Bonfire Society, completed the two-mile route from Marine Crescent to Steyne Gardens dressed as Henry VIII in a Tudor costume weighing 65lb.

He was accompanied by his wife, Carol, attired as one of Henry's six wives, Anne Boleyn.

Simon Judd, 33, John Miles, 18, and Damian Palmer, 31, also worked up a sweat dressed as penguins as part of the Penguins Hockey Club float.

The South Coast Zodiacs pom pom troupe, from Worthing, accompanied the Worthing Thunder basketball team bus, while Worthing Boys' Club made the most noise with rattles and whistles on their float, which had a sporting theme.

The Boys' Club, in Ivy Arch Road, was founded by Worthing Rotary Club in 1936 and next year celebrates its 70th anniversary.

Tori Productions drama school, which is staging the musical Annie at Shoreham Community Centre in December, pulled out the stops with their pirate ship float, complete with Jolly Roger flag fluttering above.

There was also applause for the singing from the cowboy cast of Oklahoma, who put considerable effort into their country and western-style float to plug their forthcoming show at the Pavilion Theatre, Worthing, on October 25.

Scantily-dressed girls representing Secrets lingerie boutique, Warwick Lane, Warwick Street, Worthing, donned the most revealing outfits, although one wearing high-heeled boots found the going hard and hitched a lift on the back of a car. Littlehampton provided several entries, including a fairytale float from the organisers of Littlehampton Carnival, with 16-year-old Natalie Abbiss filling the role of princess, plus Arundel and Littlehampton District Scout Band.

The crowds thickened considerably east of Heene Road, with onlookers soaking up the sun and the spectacle on hotel balconies.

At the Beach Hotel, chambermaids paused from their room-cleaning duties to watch the passing parade.

In Steyne Gardens, hordes of people watched a Splash FM roadshow hosted by David Hamilton.

The crowds were also entertained by a Corps of Drums concert and a wartime jive dancing display.

The carnival weekend was rounded off last night by a grand fireworks display from the end of the pier.

Mr Cherry hoped the carnival would raise thousands of pounds for worthy causes, continuing Rotary's charity work both in Britain and abroad.

During the late Twenties, Worthing Rotarians went to the aid of an impoverished Welsh mining town called Brynmawr, which was hit by a slump in the price of coal, leaving many of its residents destitute.

The town sent aid to the Valleys and Brynmawr children, many of them malnourished and dressed in rags, were treated to holidays here.

The mercy mission was praised by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who wrote in The Times: "The lead given by the Rotary Club of Worthing in organising aid for the unemployed of the Welsh town of Brynmawr, will, I hope be followed by other prosperous parts of the country. There can be no more practical way of helping a community than by following Worthing's example."

More recently they raised thousands of pounds for the Methodist High School of Mafme, Ghana, where two wells were dug, and sent humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka following the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

Mr Cherry, president of West Worthing Rotary Club, said: "I hope everybody enjoyed themselves and we will get even bigger crowds next year. The weather was absolutely terrific - there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"We haven't got any particular charity the fund-raising is aimed towards. It will swell the local funds for all the good causes that Rotary supports both here and abroad."