A village's annual fair was hailed a great success at the weekend despite its fancy dress procession and fell race being cancelled due to new safety rules.

The two traditional features were missing from the event at Romaldkirk, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, because it would have cost nearly £1,000 to close two roads on the orders an official Teesdale safety team.

But about 500 people, one of the highest attendances on record, enjoyed a host of attractions and games on the village green in warm sunshine.

Fancy dress contestants turned out to be judged on part of the green, instead of parading down 200 yards of road, as they had done for years.

Winners were Mully Webb, Megan Johnson, Kirsty Francis, Diane Francis, Katy Pheonix, Helen Teward, James Richardson and Joseph Richardson.

Tom Vlaming, chairman of the fair committee, said: "It has been a wonderful day despite the two cancellations. We could not afford to pay almost £1,000, but we did well, even without the parade and race."

A feature which caused amusement was a display of 18 scarecrows organised by Ruth Simpson.

They included a "bad lad" made by Norman and Barbara Pooley and locked in the village's ancient stocks.

News of the event was spread around Britain and Europe on a two-way radio link operated by the rector, the Reverend Peter Midwood, and Mike Butler. They exchanged words with radio enthusiasts in Norway, Sweden, Holland, the Shetlands and other places.

Using the call sign GBORF, they broadcast from the churchyard, using power from a solar panel to feed the batteries. The rector said: "The sunshine helped to bring in a large crowd as well as keeping our batteries well charged."