HEAVY rain prevented one of the biggest fetes in the New Forest from breaking all records.

Exbury Fete was battered by a mini-storm shortly after it opened, followed by another downpour later in the afternoon.

The event was opened by TV historian Dan Snow, who lives in nearby Lepe.

Dan, who was accompanied by his children, Wolf and Zia, spoke about the environment and how lucky people were to live in the forest.

Jim McLoughlin, chairman of the fete committee said: "We were hampered a little bit by the rain but Dan did a wonderful speech and it was a great, great day.

"We had a mini-storm about 12.30pm and everyone rushed into the clubhouse while they waited for the sun to come out again.

"It started raining quite heavily again at 4.30pm and people started drifting away.

"We think the fete attracted between 2,000 and 3,000 people. Attendance was a little bit down on previous years but that was just down to the weather.

"If it hadn't been for the rain we would probably have broken all records."