It was the first rain-free party in the park Sussex had ever seen.

Since 1997 the annual music bash, organised by Southern FM, has been marred by summer showers.

But yesterday not a drop fell.

More than 60,000 people packed Preston Park, Brighton, to enjoy the free party which featured top pop acts including 5ive, Billie Piper, Craig David, the Artful Dodger, Space and the lovely Louise.

It was also an afternoon of drama when the show was stopped 20 minutes from the end.

The Artful Dodger were only seconds into a song when a fight broke out to the right of the stage.

Organisers turned off the music and escorted the artists off stage while police made arrests and removed the troublemakers from the crowd.

Earlier in the day a group of youths on the way to the party had been heard shouting obscene football chants.

The show was disrupted for ten minutes and continued when Artful Dodger returned to the stage and performed their biggest hit, Rewind, with Craig David.

The event started at noon with a funky set from chart toppers 5ive.

Crowds screamed and blew loud whistles when former EastEnders star Sid Owen took to the stage.

The actor turned singer performed his debut single Good Thing Going.

Backstage he said: "The crowd were amazing. It was really good fun being on stage with so many people. There is no feeling quite like it."

Thousands of teenagers waved homemade banners bearing messages to their pop idols.

Some of the loudest screams were heard when indie pop rockers the Dum Dums leapt around on stage while performing their new hit, Can't Get You Out Of My Thoughts.

Billie Piper proved she had made a full recovery from a kidney infection which caused her to collapse earlier this month in a London nightclub.

The 17-year-old singer performed a vigorous dance routine as she sang her hits Day and Night and Honey to the Bee.

After her energetic performance she said: "I have had a couple of exhausting months and when I collapsed it was my body telling me to slow down. I have had a relaxing week off and now I feel great."

Organisers described the event as the biggest and best yet.

Bob Hoad, managing director of Southern FM, said: "Everyone has had a brilliant time and hopefully Party in the Park will just get bigger and bigger.".

Police praised Southern FM, Show and Event Security and said: "The event ran smoothly despite a minor outbreak of trouble towards the end of the afternoon."

Insp Paul Smith from Sussex Police said: "99.9 per cent of the crowd were well behaved and did the event credit."

He said ten people were arrested for public order offences, but there were no serious injuries.

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