Donnington Bonfire display in Telford draws 12,000
[gallery] More than 12,000 people turned out to see the sky explode into life above one of Shropshire's biggest bonfire parties.
Organisers of the annual Donnington Bonfire spectacular in Telford said it was one of the best yet as visitor numbers topped last year's turnout and the weather stayed dry.
Dozens of whirling fun fair rides carpeted the Broadoaks Playing Field and the giant bonfire, made up of thousands of wooden pallets donated by local companies, burst into flames at about 7pm on Saturday night.
The fireworks followed shortly after, wowing the thousands of people who had turned up.
Bonfire organisers Jenny and Alf Mitchell said it had been a lovely evening.
Mrs Mitchell said: "It went absolutely brilliantly.
"It's hard to put a precise number on the number of people attending the event because they are free to come and go as they wish. There are no gates around the park and the event is free to all who attend.
"But I would say it was easily more than last year, and we had about 12,000 for that. It couldn't have gone any better really. The weather was dry, there was no wind, the bonfire lit very easily with very little smoke, and the fireworks were fantastic as ever."
Sam Griffin, from Telford, was there with her partner and two daughters and said it had been an "amazing" night.
Last year the lighting of the bonfire had to be delayed by half-an-hour as traffic piled up around the site. But Mrs Mitchell said there had been no such problems this time around.
