STROLLING out to collect their morning papers, residents of a sleepy Eden town could have been fooled into thinking they had stepped onto the set of the latest Spiderman movie as men and women spent the weekend somersaulting through the streets.

Professional skate-boarders, in-line skaters and street acrobats from across the North West flocked to Kirkby Stephen on Saturday to defy gravity for the town's daring public art project - Skateable Sculpture.

Organised by the Kirkby Stephen Extreme Sports Association, Volunteers Centre Eden and the Fold gallery, Gravity! saw graceful gymnasts and fearless folk spreading the word about the increasingly poplar urban sport, free-running (or Le Parkour), which began in France.

Turning the town into a giant playground, the ninja feats included running up walls, hopping over cars and somersaulting benches to raise awareness of the arts project.

Steve Messam, one of the organisers, explained the event aimed to get local people involved in developing "landform" sculptures as alternatives to the wooden ramps and concrete skate parks more typically found in towns. It also set out to prove the alternative activity can work in rural areas as well as cities.

"It was really traffic stopping stuff. The event drew big crowds all weekend and kids from all over Eden turned up many with their skateboards and in-line skates - to take part and learn some moves," he said. "The youngsters were vaulting over cars and really got involved, which was fantastic."

Those who didn't fancy flinging themselves from the rooftops were joined by Fold artists as they created their own landscape sculptures.

On Sunday, more than 80 residents travelled to Dumfries to see first hand some of the inspiration for the Skateable Sculpture project in the gardens of award-winning architect Charles Jencks.

"The weekend was such a success that we are talking with local schools to try to arrange more Parkour lessons. I'm delighted," added Mr Messam.