WHILE Guy Fawkes was tortured and killed for his role in attempting to bring down King James I and the establishment, various bonfire societies since have thankfully only attracted controversy.

And you do not need to look too far back to find it.

Last year, the Waterloo Bonfire Society in Lewes came in for abuse for attempting to burn an effigy of then-Scottish first minister Alex Salmond.

It was taken off the parade at the last minute after concerns from the public.

While the Pope and the devil have featured for centuries, recent figures have included Lance Armstrong, George W Bush, Piers Morgan and German chancellor Angela Merkel.

One of the most striking images from our archive is a black and white shot of a Ronald Reagan effigy, captured in 1981 in Lewes.

It shows the American president on horseback in a cowboy hat shooting guns in the air. The figure appeared just eight months after assassins failed to kill him.

In 2003, at a nearby event in Firle, seven people were arrested and released on bail after a Gypsy caravan effigy was wheeled through the streets before being torched.

Back at Lewes Bonfire in 2009, the Cliffe Bonfire Society's effigy depicted MPs amid the expenses scandal. A giant David Cameron holding a puppet Nick Clegg - which was widely commented on as being 50% forehead - was marched through the streets in 2011.

Further afield the Red Lyon pub in Slinfold ignited an effigy of the Go Compare opera singer Wynne Evans in 2013.

Lewes has a tradition of bonfire nights going back to the late 1600s, with Lewes Borough Bonfire Society claiming to be one of the oldest. It is pictured here from 1927.

Other societies across Sussex are widespread, with groups in Beeding, Bramber and Uckfield according to our archive as well as elsewhere.

In Lewes, Bonfire Boys soon became the enemy of the authorities and the police attempted to crackdown on their antics.

In 1806, 18 were arrested with fires put out by police around the town. In 1829 there was a near riot when the Lewes Bonfire Boys had a sharp encounter with a magistrate called Mr Whitfield on Cliffe Bridge.

Three years later the police went a step further and tried to prevent the celebrations taking place altogether.