Come hell or high water, Lewes was always going to put on a good show for the town's annual bonfire night.

The floods that ravaged the town three weeks ago, leaving a clean-up bill running into millions, were forgotten for a few hours of seasonal fun.

More than 15,000 people crammed the narrow streets to get the best view of the procession of competing bonfire societies.

The floods did take their toll. The South Street Bonfire Society had to scale down its celebrations but the procession of fantastically costumed marchers, giant effigies and fireworks went ahead.

Festivities kicked off at 5.30pm with children's processions and the famous barrel runs, and for the next six hours the event took on a life of its own, building gradually into a dramatic spectacle of sights, sounds and smells.

Cavaliers marched beside cowboys and Indians, Tudor ladies beside Victorian ones, ancient Egyptians beside Romans.

It is traditional each year for politicians and public figures to be made figures of fun, taking on the role of the enemies of the bonfire.

This year it was the turn of Chancellor Gordon Brown and Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson, transformed in a giant tableau into a teacher and his whipping boy.