A SEA of light danced in the dark as candle-lit lanterns were carried from the four corners of Ulverston to merge together for a fiesta of fireworks and music.

Organisers' fears that the fuel crisis would keep people at home were allayed when thousands of supporters turned up for the 18th Lantern Procession on Saturday evening to mark its coming of age and round off the town's two week Charter Festival.

Parading through the streets with gusto, families came from the Honeypots, Ford Park, Croftlands and Swarthmoor to meet at Market Place, boasting an impressive collection of lanterns which paid dividend to the hours spent at workshops before the event.

Based around the theme As Time Goes By, the lantern procession featured paper creatures and images throughout the ages, including dinosaurs, fish, stars, clocks, skulls, a grand piano, tardis, a Pokemon and Millennium Dome.

Pulsating music and infectious rhythms carried the crowd forward for the eagerly-awaited finale in Ford Park, which was organised and kept secret by the Welfare State Institution.

The show's scene was set by a clock ticking as giant paper windmills, surrounded by glowing lanterns and luminous shapes, rotated.

Colourful flares shot into the air, engulfing the scene in an eerie mist as tall white figures crept about and skeletons danced in the air.

The thunder of fireworks erupting in the sky brought the show and festival to a climactic end.

Ulverston-based Sgt Keith Healey, who has been responsible for policing the procession for the past three years, said it ran "more smoothly than ever before", adding: "It was very well-attended, all good natured and went without a glitch."

Peter Winston, secretary of the Lantern Supporters Club, admitted that although the fuel crisis "cost us in numbers" and had kept people away from workshops, it did not prevent an estimated 7,000 people from attending on the night.

"It was much bigger than I expected," said Mr Winston.

"I think a lot of people decided at the last minute to come anyway, and the weather held off, which was brilliant."

Some of Ulverston's "unsung heroes" were offered "gift lanterns" and invited to lead the different processions on their way to Market Place.

Tommy Dawson, of Swarthmoor, was nominated in recognition of his role in the village.

Mr Winston explained that the milkman's active involvement in his local community, support of different activities and fund-raising efforts had made him an obvious choice.

Sheila Bailey, an Ulverston adoptive mother and foster carer of many years, was also asked to lead a procession, as was Pat Longden, a recently-retired nursing sister-in-charge, who was invited to represent staff of Ulverston General Hospital.

Ulverston town mayor Coun David Miller said the Lantern Procession was "the icing on the cake as a finale to the Charter Festival fortnight".

He said: "It was tremendous.

I was right at the front of the procession and it was absolutely marvellous seeing the amount of people and so many lanterns within the town."