Big crowd for carnival parade

THE Lowestoft Carnival Parade may have suffered a last-minute route change but the crowd - and even the sunshine - was still out in force.Sunday's parade was unable to take its usual route over the A12 bascule bridge after organisers learnt they did not have the necessary permission to close the road despite using the route for years.

THE Lowestoft Carnival Parade may have suffered a last-minute route change but the crowd - and even the sunshine - was still out in force.

Sunday's parade was unable to take its usual route over the A12 bascule bridge after organisers learnt they did not have the necessary permission to close the road despite using the route for years.

But something that did not change was support for the parade, with thousands of people lining the paths to raise money for the town's hospital.

Float themes included Disney, Top Gun and West End musicals and entertainment along the new route, which stopped at Royal Green on the seafront, was provided by groups including majorettes, dancers and a marching band.

Pat Rayner, chairman of the Friends of Lowestoft Hospital committee which organises the event, said: 'After the problems of the past week, we are delighted with the way the parade has gone.'

**For much more on the carnival - including a four-page picture special - see this week's Lowestoft Journal, which is out a day earlier than usual on Thursday for the first day of the Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival.