HUNDREDS of people took part in a spectacular lantern parade across Tadcaster’s reopened bridge tonight.

Children and adults carrying hand-made decorated lamps processed from east to west over the bridge - a journey that would have been impossible for 13 months after it partially collapsed in the wake of severe flooding in late 2015.

The parade was part of a day of celebrations to mark the recent completion of a £4.3 million reconstruction and widening of the bridge over the River Wharfe.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, who blessed the bridge at lunchtime, said he had visited Tadcaster when the bridge collapsed, and St Mary’s Parish Church had been terribly flooded.

He said Tadcaster had looked ‘amazingly sad,’ but there had still been hope amongst its people. “Everybody was mopping up and helping,” he said.

“The two communities that have been divided are now united,” he said. “No more quarrels please! We are one community again.”

Prayers were later said for Tadcaster’s business community, which had faced ‘heartache’ with the loss of trade, and the gathering sang hymns and the song You’ll Never Walk Alone.

The event, organised by Tadcaster and Rural Community Interest Company, also featured street entertainers, fairground rides, a medieval market and re-enactment actors, and classic cars.

The day will come to a climax with a lantern parade across the bridge by hundreds of residents as dusk falls at 5.45pm, starting from Sainsbury’s supermarket on the east bank.

There will then be a fireworks display on the riverside at 7pm.

People from across North Yorkshire are being invited to come to Tadcaster to join in the fesstivities.