An international clown festival is returning to a town after an 11-year break.

The streets of Bognor will once again be filled with red noses, curly wigs and giant floppy shoes when clowns from all over the world descend on the seaside town for the convention.

Bognor hosted the original event in 1985, the only one of its kind, and hundreds of clowns flocked to the town for the next nine years until 1995 when a lack of funding meant they had to go elsewhere.

But ex-Mayor Sylvia Olliver last year vowed to resurrect the festival and struck a deal with holiday camp Butlins which agreed to house and feed the entertainers for a weekend in March.

She said: "During my mayoral year, one of the things I wanted to do was to get the clowns back. I thought if it's ever going to happen we need to do it now."

The clowns and their families arrive on March 10 for a reception dinner hosted by the town council and will take part in workshops with local schools, entertainment at the holiday resort and a grand procession through the town on Sunday.

Councillor Olliver said: "I am sure there will be a marvellous atmosphere when they parade through the streets. There will be a band leading the way and we are hoping local businesses will join in and decorate their windows."

Coun Olliver was the victim of a practical joke when clowns poured 76 gallons of multi-coloured water on her during their last visit in 1994.

She said: "I can still remember what it felt like - it was really cold and I had to throw away my clothes because they were completely covered in this watery gunge."

Coun Jeanette Warr, current mayor of Bognor, was looking forward to the clowns' return.

She said: "People will be pleased to see them back after all this time. It will be a children's paradise. we welcome anything that is going to bring tourists into the town."

But Trevor Pharo, the original creator of the international clown convention, had mixed reactions to the news, saying he was "delighted and dismayed".

Mr Pharo, also known as Bingo the Clown, of Upper Rock Gardens, Brighton, approached the town council to make a documentary about the clown convention last December. But his offer was turned down.

He said: "We wanted to make a commemorative programme and recreate the first procession in 1985 when everyone dressed up as a clown for the day. I got a negative response but I realise now that must have been because they were in talks with Butlins."

Mr Pharo, originally from Bognor, broke ties with the clown convention in 1992 and has been working with charity Dreamflight, which organises holidays to Florida for sick children and their families.