ORGANISERS of the first ever Harbour Bites Food Festival have hailed the event a success as money was raised for charity.

The event took place in West Bay at the weekend, raising vital funding for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.

Producers came together to celebrate food and drink from the south west, with the famous East Cliff and live music as the backdrop for the event. It is not yet known how much money has been raised.

Organisers Caroline Richards, from the Hive Beach Café said: “It was a pleasure to meet and work with the traders who came from Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

"We were delighted to showcase some of the best food and drink from across the county and the south west. We tempted visitors to taste and buy a funky fusion of great local seasonal food and drink."

As the sun beamed down and the music played, there was a lovely relaxed atmosphere around West Bay, with producers and traders adding vibrant splashes of colour to the weekend.

As well as Samways Fish Merchants' pop-up 'fish theatre', the producers market on Fishermen's Green was also popular with visitors - featuring a range of food and drink including cider, cheese, jams, chutney, tea, coffee, pies, hot street food and sushi.

Visitors venturing up to the mound car park found even more food, including Spice and Rice curry, Caribbean jerk chicken and the Palmers Brewery pop-up festival bar.

Organisers would like to thank their team of dedicated volunteers who helped make the event such a success.

"As a first event we knew there would be a learning curve, but we were very pleased to see visitors to the festival have a great time,” added Caroline.

"I would like to pay huge thanks to the wonderful team of festival volunteers who gave up their time so willingly to help with trader set up, parking and stewarding - Bridport Town Council and the Harbour Master and our wonderful festival sponsors and partners without whom none of this would have been possible without their generous financial support."