Liz Coates A scorching Sunday saw Gorleston's cliff top packed as people enjoyed a feast of seaside fun on a long, hot sunny day.As temperatures pushed the 80sF the beaches were full of families playing games and generally enjoying the weather.

Liz Coates

A scorching Sunday saw Gorleston's cliff top packed as people enjoyed a feast of seaside fun on a long, hot sunny day.

As temperatures pushed the 80sF the beaches were full of families playing games and generally enjoying the weather.

Bare-chested blokes were among those enjoying a mile of fun along the cliff top raising money for good causes at charity stalls.

But with bars running out of beer and pilots running out of time some aspects were simply too successful, said John Barnden, chairman of Gorleston in Gear, the organisation behind the popular annual event.

By early evening three out of the four bars had been drunk dry and the helicopter pilot - after making a staggering 170 flights - ran out of airtime.

Mr Barnden said about 25,000 people bobbed along the cliff top on Sunday enjoying an event that really did have something for everyone from custom cars to Punch and Judy, games, sensational live music, karate displays, pole dancing and children's fairground rides.

He said the air display and firework finale were among the highlights of a busy Sunday, sponsored by Deep Ocean and the Tourist Authority respectively.

He thanked all the event sponsors and event-goers for their good behaviour in the spirit of the gala weekend which kicked off on Friday night with a wartime gala dance.

On Saturday, a focus on sport and activities attracted about 9,000 with Top Body's strongman competition proving a powerful draw.

Mr Barnden said preparations had been going on for 18 months and fell on the shoulders of just a dozen people, with five more drafted in to help over the weekend. Great Yarmouth Borough Services had done a “great job” clearing up the debris, he added.

This year people who had never been to Gorleston came from as far as Cheltenham and London and a group of children from Kenya are already keen to come next year.

Organisers, he added, were delighted but exhausted. “It's very satisfying because so much work goes in to it and there is always some anxiety. So there is a certain feeling of well-being that you have pulled it off and you have given an awful lot of people a lot of pleasure in their thousands.”