THOUSANDS of people flocked to Dawlish last week for the most action-packed week in the town's annual calendar.

Carnival and air show organisers are now counting up the proceeds and already preparing to start planning for next year's events.

Thursday's air show was hit by bad weather in Bournemouth where highlight of the day the Red Arrows were based, forcing the team to cancel the appearance as the finale of the day's displays.

And entries were down for the carnival procession on Friday night, chairman Dave Farley said.

He believes fuel costs could be to blame for the lack of large floats.

He said: 'Numbers for the procession were down slightly and I have noticed that there has been a lack of floats at many carnivals in the area.

'A lot of people did comment that there didn't appear to be as much in the procession.

'I think a lot of it is down to the increase in fuel. It's not just the petrol for the float to consider, there are the generators and the travel to the carnival.'

Air show committee member Kevin Wills said they were disappointed that weather conditions elsewhere in the country had put paid to some of the most popular displays but said there were still two hours of flying and despite the problems, the crowds still enjoyed the day.

He explained: 'The weather, in conjunction with technical difficulties, precluded not just the Reds themselves from reaching Dawlish but also the team manager red 10, who must be on the ground for safety reasons to allow the team to perform.

'The Reds eventually got airborne but it was outside the timescale within which the special restricted air space that they need to operate in had been booked.'

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Breitling Wingwalkers were also forced to cancel and earlier the Vulcan had pulled out due to problems with a fuel leak.

Despite the setbacks, the event was still hailed a big success and the crowds were able to enjoy a host of displays including Royal Air Force planes Tucano, Hawk, King Air and Tornado.

The Blades, former Red Arrows pilots making their first appearance at Dawlish, drew a perfect heart in the sky with their on-board smoke system.

Mr Wills said: 'We are of course extremely disappointed that some of our planned events were not able to appear this year but overall I think everyone enjoyed another excellent Dawlish Air Show.

'When events take place that are beyond your control you have to deal with them quickly and efficiently and I am proud of the whole team as they managed to do that very well.

'We put on two hours of flying to a large and enthusiastic crowd and it is down to their generosity, alongside support from local sponsors, that the show was able to go ahead with such a great line up of acts.

'The weather and technical issues did conspire against us but we look forward to delivering another great event next year.'

Visitors enjoyed a host of events throughout carnival week including the ever-popular pram race, talent show and It's A Knockout.

Mr Farley said: 'We didn't have a bad week, it was pretty good. There were a few wet days and entries were a bit down but on the whole it was good.'

He thanked fairground owner Dave Rowlands for his support.

He said: 'Dave was absolutely brilliant and supported us in every way. He was fantastic and we can't thank him enough.'