MORE than 16,000 people took advantage of Saturday's fine weather to visit an action-packed Cleveland Show.

Visitor numbers and entries at the show, held in Middlesbrough's Stewart Park, were up on last year thanks in part to the warm weather.

The usual agricultural, show jumping and horticultural classes were held, but the stars of the day were the Devil's Horsemen stunt team, who have appeared on cult TV show Game of Thrones, doing jousting demonstrations.

A new aspect to the show – which also proved popular – was a music marquee, with live bands including a six-piece Irish folk band and a cover band.

The show's general secretary Val Thomson said: "We definitely had more people here than last year and I think the Devil's Horsemen drew quite a few crowds in.

"It was wonderful, a lovely atmosphere, and it was busy but there's so much space in the park that you're not shoulder-to-shoulder with people even when it is busy."

The show announced a new sponsorship deal with Askham Bryan College, which manages and runs the Bolckow centre, which incorporates the central lodge, cafe, walled and kitchen gardens and the animal enclosures in Stewart Park, this year.