Eastleigh'S grand millennium carnival parade turned out to be a showstopper at the weekend with thousands turning out to watch as the 113th show hit the road.

Organisers were saying that the number of contestants equalled last year's record-breaker as the colourful cavalcade brought a dose of high-spirited fun to the town.

In a departure from tradition, Eastleigh's Y2K parade had an optional theme - Transport Through The Ages - and many of the contestants took the town's transport links to heart.

Trains and planes figured prominently, with railway workers from Alstom producing a hybrid four-in-one loco depicting the age of steam through to a modern electric, while members of Eastleigh and Chandler's Ford Round Table took to the skies with a squadron of eight Spitfires.

Eastleigh mayor Peter Humphreys - dressed in full civic regalia - cut a ribbon to launch the parade, which featured plenty of monkey business from the Romsey Old Cadet Carnival Showband. Eastleigh carnival queen Nadine Harder, with princesses Lauren Whaley and Chloe Baptiste, ruled the waves from a flower-decked vintage lorry.

See tomorrow's Echo for more carnival pictures and results.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.