MORE than 140,000 people are estimated to have flocked to the largest light festival in the country over the weekend.

Click here to view pictures from Lumiere

The four-day spectacular in Durham City drew to a close last night with organisers hailing it a huge success. Visitor numbers have doubled since the first event two years ago.

Councillor Les Thomson, the Mayor of Durham, said: “It was fantastic to see so many people in the city centre on an evening.

“It’s a fabulous asset for Durham and it should really help boost the city’s economy and put Durham on the map.

It helps raise the profile of the city.”

The event brought together more than 30 British and international artists, all working with light.

It attracted visitors from all over the world to see the 35 different art installations spread all over the city.

However, despite its success there were complaints that the large crowds were not being managed safely.

Stephen Lee, of Spennmoor, said: “Although the lights and the set-up were fantastic, the whole event was ruined for us by the over zealous use of the security and one-way systems, which on one level was annoying and on another level it was dangerous to the point where someone could have got seriously hurt. In my opinion, it was a complete disaster – echoed by many others in the crowd.

“What should have been a nice night out for the family ended up with both children in tears and my stress level through the roof.”

Nicky Webb, co-director of Artichoke, who produced Lumiere, said crowd control measures had been effective.

She said: “The organisational plan, drawn up by professional crowd safety management specialists and approved by the Safety Advisory Group and emergency services, is robust.”

“Artichoke acknowledge that some people have been unhappy at the very large crowds at the event and the safety measures put in place.”

Police confirmed that the event had passed off safely during the first three nights without any incident.

Melanie Sensicle, chief executive of Visit County Durham, said more people have now got Durham on their list of “must visit” places.

She said: “It has raised Durham’s profile as a place where amazing things happen.

This shows that people who voted Durham to be England’s favourite city were completely justified.”