Thousands of brightly coloured plastic birds made their way down the River Sid on Sunday in the Lions Club of Sidmouth’s Great Duck Derby – which raised a record £5,700 for charity.

The annual event saw dozens of residents turn out to watch the start of the two races in The Byes, and to take part in duck and spoon fun.

The main [yellow] duck race started at 3pm, but because of the lack of water flow in the Sid, the leading ducks took just over an hour to reach the finish by the weir above Salcombe Road.

Proceeds from the main race have been split between two good causes, with the 1st Sid Vale Scouts receiving £1,600, and charity for the homeless, Nightstop Devon, receiving £1,600 as well.

The Lions club’s Chris Rignall said: “It would not have been possible to raise this huge amount of money for charity without the extraordinary generosity of local residents and local business organisations, and also many of the visitors to Sidmouth during the month prior to the Duck Derby.” He thanked everyone who had supported the event, including the proprietors of local hotels, pubs and restaurants, the Co-operative and Lidl stores and Sidmouth Garden Centre for allowing the Lions to sell tickets on their premises.