THERE was a successful turnout for a town’s first ever classic car and bike show at the weekend.

Organised by Bacup Now, Sunday’s Bacup Classic Car and Bike Show, in Bacup town centre, attracted around 400 motoring fanatics and 30 classic cars.

And with revellers flocking from as far away as Scotland and Derbyshire, Barry Hyde, who helped get the show up and running, said it couldn’t have run more smoothly.

Mr Hyde, a founding member of community group Bacup Now, said: “It went brilliantly; it was just fantastic. It’s the first time we’ve done something like this and it was amazing.

“We put something out to the community a while ago to spark interest and we got a really good response so we began organising it and set about getting the cars down.

“A lot of the bikes and cars belonged to local people but we were really surprised to find that people were coming with cars from Derbyshire, the south of England and even Scotland.

“It was great for the Valley and for the town too as there were so many people around, buying from local businesses.”

Mr Hyde said that many retail outlets in Bacup close on a Sunday, however, several cafes and shops decided to open especially for the car show and saw a boom in trade.

He added: “Some of the cafes said they’d done incredibly well, with sales being the best they’d had all week.

“It bodes so well for the town and what Bacup Now is trying to do in terms of regenerating the centre.”

With the show a runaway success, Mr Hyde says Bacup Now have already begun planning next years’ event, and he hopes to see it become an annual fixture on the calendar.

He said: “The weather probably stopped a lot of people coming down but there was still hundreds throughout the day, and we put on live entertainment in the form of singers and bands too.

“Hopefully next year will be bigger and better.”