Crowds line streets for Lewes bonfire celebrations

Crowds of people lined the streets of Lewes as the town’s bonfire societies marched with burning torches for Guy Fawkes Night.

Tens of thousands of people were expected to turn out for the annual celebrations, a tradition still very much alive since the first recorded event in 1795.

Each society spends months producing an effigy - or tableau - which are paraded through the streets and then burned at the bonfire sites.

Just before 23:00 GMT, firework explosions could be heard for miles as the festivities reached a conclusion.

Kevin and Cathy Mooney, from Arizona, said they were in Lewes for the first time.

Mr Mooney said: "I'm pretty overwhelmed by it. It really has been amazing.

"I come from the United States and really can't think of anything that comes close to this."

Ms Mooney said she hoped Donald Trump would make an appearance as a tableau in Tuesday night's celebrations.

Previous effigies have included Rishi Sunak riding a train, Suella Braverman as an octopus and Jeremy Clarkson driving a skip.

On Tuesday night, one tableau highlighted sewage and water quality concerns, while another featured former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells.

Earlier, a grinning effigy of Nigel Farage holding a cigarette and a pint of beer was spotted in the town.

While Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot of 1605 dominate the UK's autumnal bonfire tradition, the town also remembers the 17 Protestants who were burnt to death by the Catholic queen, Mary I, in Lewes in the 1500s.

There are a total of six processions through Lewes between 17:30 and 23:30 GMT.

Following the processions, the bonfire societies burned their tableaus and let off fireworks in their respective fields.