THOUSANDS of people attended Harefield's annual summer fete, with barely a patch of grass left untouched on the village green.

The rain stayed away as the party atmosphere descended on the village, with stalls and entertainment aplenty.

It was a fantastic day out for children and families, with youngsters getting involved with face painting and dogs competing in competitions.

Caron Mitchell, of the St Mary's social fundraising committee, said: "The fete was very successful - we had thousands of people turn up."

With England's World Cup opening match taking place later that evening, there was a real carnival atmosphere on the village green, where the fete was held.

One of the most popular stalls was the unmissable big, green Save the Medi Parc stall, with a team of volunteers raising awareness of the campaign to get the popular wildlife hotspot registered as a village green, to stave off any development.

The stall was shown support by politicians Ruislip-Northwood and Harefield MP Nick Hurd (Con) and the Deputy Mayor of London, Richard Barnes (Con), who represents Harefield on Hillingdon Council.

"I congratulate the team on their tenacity in this campaign and I will be supporting this application," said Mr Barnes.

"We have a chance to secure a new village green as a lasting legacy for the village."

One of the most welcome new additions to the fete were the Harefield Archers, and the tug of war competition was as hotly contested as ever.

The biggest challenge of the day was competing with the PA system, which cutting out with regularity, but the experienced organisers were able to battle on and not let it affect the flow of the day.