A foggy November evening did not deter the crowds turning out in force this week to witness the arrival of Santa Claus on the Town Hall balcony.

Moments later the scene was transformed as the Christmas lights were switched on.

Santa then descended to distribute some early treats to the many youngsters present.

He was accompanied by a rather tall fairy with blue hair and a walking Christmas tree. These two young ladies were actually stilt walkers and getting a reasonable photo of them proved quite difficult. The use of the flash on the camera resulted in the moisture in the atmosphere being illuminated and the images looked as though they had been taken in a snow storm. Also it was not easy for the stilt walkers to stand perfectly still so focusing was a problem too and the two images above were about the best I could get.

As well as the stilt walking Christmas tree there was a more traditional, albeit temporary, one close by decked out in white lights. Coloured lights adorned other permanent trees in the Market Place.

As the temperature dropped the fog semed to get thicker but as we started to wend our way home, a look back showed the lights doing their best to peer through the gloom.