DICKENSIAN Evening came in for high praise last week from Tavistock town councillors.

At the council's finance and general purposes meeting, members spoke of their admiration for this year's Dickensian, which proved a huge success for the town, and saw record numbers at the switching on of the Christmas lights.

The mayor Cllr Harry Smith said: 'I was pleased to see a number of faces looking up at the stage when I was turning on the lights.

'I visited a lot of the shops and I would say well over 90 per cent were happy on the evening. I felt it was a terrific atmosphere in the town.'

Cllr David Whitcomb said: 'I spent two and a half hours there that evening and I was one of the people who did purchase a few items and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

'I thought it was one of the best evenings we have had for a long time.'

Organisers from Tavistock BID (Business Improvement District), said the event was a success, and have already started on next year's event, which will be the 30th anniversary of Dickensian Evening.

BID manager Lisa Wadling said: 'We had record numbers on the evening. Dickensian Evening was packed out from side street to side street, from top to bottom.

'What helped give the nice atmosphere was the fact that so many community groups put the effort in, and without them it may not have been the Dickensian Evening that it was.'