More than 110,000 people poured into Brighton and Hove at the weekend, boosting the city's economy by millions as they celebrated Pride.

As the £25,000 clean-up operation began in earnest today, organisers revealed the annual event had brought in as much as £5.5 million.

Europe's biggest event for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community was a huge success and Sussex Police reported no trouble. Despite huge crowds of party-goers in Preston Park on Saturday, many of whom moved into the city centre in the evening, there were only a handful of arrests.

Police spokeswoman Suzanne Heard said: "A lot of work goes into the planning. People come from all over the place for a great day and that is what they get."

Brighton and Hove City Council deputy leader, Sue John, said: "There seemed to be more people than ever before.

"Lots of them were spending money in the city centre before and after visiting Preston Park.

"I went with my husband and had a fantastic time.

"The different partners work together really well and Pride is a wonderful event for the city."

The figures for this year's event topped last year's, when more than 100,000 people visited the city and £5 million was generated for the local economy.

The weather was also just right for the outdoor event, neither rain nor the sweltering heat of last year's festival. A St John Ambulance spokesman said it had been a remarkably safe day with very few people in need of medical assistance.

The smooth running of such a major operation was credited to the co-operation between the Pride committee, the city council and the police. Pride operations manager PJ Aldred said: "The support we get from the council and the police is fantastic and the effort we have all put in has paid off.

"This year's Pride was absolutely superb."

The cost of putting on the Preston Park event is about £140,000, all paid for by Pride, which was awarded charitable status last September.

The park was still knee-deep in litter yesterday and the clean-up, paid for by Pride, is taking longer than usual because more rubbish than ever before is being recycled.

Ms Aldred said: "We want to make sure we do it properly. We are asking nearby residents and park-users to bear with us. To keep disturbance to a minimum we have put a 6pm curfew on any noisy clean-up activities."

Pride chairman David Harvey paid tribute to the hard work of unpaid helpers.

He said: "They are volunteers from our community working hard and that is what creates the magic.

"We are now the best gay Pride in Europe."

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