Cartoon festival proves a winner

Shrewsbury's International Cartoon Festival has been hailed a tremendous success by organisers today.

The event at the weekend saw cartoonists from all over the UK descend on the town. They were let loose to caricature and cartoon for the public.

This year's festival theme was Art, and people were able to take part in workshops across the town as well as attending lectures about cartoons and humour.

Radio presenter Libby Purves, one of the patrons, attended the festival and was even drawn as an octopus.

The Bear Steps Gallery in Shrewsbury also saw an increase in visitors as hundreds of people visited the cartoon exhibitions.

These included the Rogues Gallery, a satirical take on Old Master paintings by Dave Brown, political cartoonist for The Independent, as well as But is it Art? with cartoons by top UK cartoonists.