A GLITTERING spectacular took place on Southampton Water when the annual fireworks event went off with a bang.

• Southampton Fireworks 2015 - in pictures >>
• Winchester Fireworks 2015 - in pictures >>

Thousands of people made their way down to the waterfront to see rockets fly into the air and litter the skies of the city with sparks of colour.

The climax of the event saw a barrage of rockets blast off into the air scatter gold sparks across the sky before they fell like a shower of gold onto the water.

Children joined their parents at Mayflower Park as they oohed and aah-ed in awe at the colours flying across the sky.

Families enjoyed fairground rides and attractions and took part in the annual event which sees cash raised for a variety of good causes in the city.

Bands played to entertain the crowds while parents lined up to enjoy hot food before a 20-minute display with Southampton electric string trio Cordelectra accompanying the rockets.

Williams Shipping provided a barge from which the fireworks were lit while the event, organised by Southampton Rotary Club, was supported by Associated British Ports Southampton and yacht firm Sunseeker.

Dawn Wilmott was a spectator on the night. She said: “I really, really liked it. The fireworks were amazing.

“That’s what I came to see and they were brilliant.

“The end of it was great, especially with the gold sparks at the end.”

Organisers said they were glad to see such a huge turnout compared to last year.

Event manager Chris Tahmasaby said the night went “extremely well” as close to 10,000 people were at Mayflower Park.

He said: “It’s been absolutely heaving here.

“All we’re hearing are comments from people who have been saying how much they loved it. People are very happy.

“It has raised thousands of pounds for charity.

“We have had a record year for online sales booking and we have had such a huge amount of support.”

They added that the organisers were not aware of any incidents at the event.

Mr Tahmasaby said: “We had more volunteers than ever before; the security, St John’s Ambulance, the police, the volunteers – there were so many who came to help.

“We had a few children who were missing but their parents were found quickly, it couldn’t have gone better.”