HOT cross bun fun in the sun proved a smash-hit in Sidmouth on Good Friday.

HOT cross bun fun in the sun proved a smash-hit in Sidmouth on Good Friday.

Organisers say the 100-year-old custom is going “from strength to strength” after hundreds of excited children and families turned out for the traditional giveaway.

First in a massive queue was Jack Mesher. The 12-year-old arrived at the Bedford Lawn car park at 6am and hailed being the first recipient as “brilliant.”

“It’s a great tradition,” he said.

Two-thousand buns, made by bakers at Vinnicombes, were handed out in 1,000 bags which also contained an orange and an Easter egg.

Sidmouth Hot Cross Bun Fund Committee members worked hard from the early hours to ensure the event was a success.

“I’m a happy man,” said president Michael Wood. “The weather makes it. Our aim is to keep the tradition running and its going from strength to strength.”

Rachel Pugsley, 38, and children Jack, seven, and Hollie, six, were delighted to be near the front of the queue.

“It’s a tradition I’ve done since I was born,” said Rachel. “It’s the closest to the front we’ve ever been.”

Among the youngest recipients were nine-month-old babies Martha Searle and Marley Wheaton.

“I’ve been excited for ages,” said Marley’s mum Kaya Taylor.

- FOUR page picture special in this Thursday’s Sidmouth Herald.