THE organisers of popular community events have thanked their communities for demonstrating their support, despite poor weather.

Crowds refused to let the rain dampen their spirits as they turned out for the 125th Richmond Meet, the Barnard Castle Meet and the Zetland Gold Cup fixture at Redcar Racecourse.

The North Yorkshire event saw people watch the carnival procession as it wound its way through the town. Floats were joined by vintage cars, scooters and the cast of the Georgian Theatre's Pirates of the Caribbean.

The Meet, which was originally started as a traditional cycling event, began on Friday night with the President's reception and carried on over the weekend to the procession finale.

Committee member Paul Hadden said: "Obviously it would have been much better in blazing weather, but it was still spectacular and it’s marvellous to think so many people turned out in the pouring rain to take part and to support us.

“We had a fabulous range of floats, people had really pulled the stops out this year, some of the fancy dress outfits were wonderful and it was a real bonus to be joined by members of the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean, although the weather wasn’t very Caribbean.

“I really want to pay credit to the people of Richmond and the surrounding area for turning out, and to the people who built and appeared on the floats for making such a tremendous effort, we do appreciate it, particularly when the conditions are so awful.

“The Meet is a very important part of Richmond’s history a great traditional event which was started as a cycling meet, over the years that fell back but now it’s really emerged again helped along by the Tour de France and the Tour de Yorkshire.

“It helps us to raise funds which go back into the community, we use it to help people who need it, we’re not sure how much has been raised but it has been an amazing turnout,” he added.

Organisers of the Barnard Castle Meet said the support had been hailed as "absolutely fantastic".

The events held on Scar Top on Sunday and Monday were free and a pet show, which saw entries of a snake, chickens and tortoise, was the biggest one for a number of years

The carnival's oldest participant was 99 years old and children turned out in force to enjoy a sports day.

Meet spokeswoman Shona Robinson said: "It has been absolutely fantastic and a lot of fun. People were not put off by the rain and there was lots of great cheering. We just want to thank everyone for turning out to get involved."

Spiderman made a surprise appearance at Redcar Racecourse as crowds there too defied the rain.

The Zetland Gold Cup is one of the big races of the season at Redcar and Spiderman was joined by Queen Elsa and Princess Anna to make it a family day.

The superhero was even pictured having a bet with veteran bookmaker Johnny Ridley.