THE great and the good gathered to celebrate Colchester’s traditional Oyster Feast.

The annual event, held in the Moot Hall on Friday, saw dignitaries from across the borough celebrate the Mersea shellfish.

United Colchester was the theme of this year’s feast with guests and speakers representing differect aspects of the town coming together.

Speakers included Vicky Reaveley from Guide Dogs for the Blind, Stanway School headteacher Jonathan Tippett, and Colchester Zoo director Anthony Tropeano.

Colchester Zoo, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, featured heavily at the feast with giraffes on the menus and a range of wild animal table decorations.

Colchester mayor Colin Sykes said he and mayoress Laura Sykes said we were really pleased with how it went.

He said: "We had a brilliant feast and thoroughly enjoyed the biggest day of our mayoral year.

"We reckon it was the best there has ever been.

"It is a civic event not a charity event but we invited people to take the floral displays with the hand painted animals home.

"They left money in envelopes and we raised £625 for our mayoral charities, they were very generous."

The event, held on the last Friday of October, is thought to have its origins in the 14th century but the modern feast began in 1845 with then Mayor of Colchester Thomas Wolton.

This year’s feast harked back to the 19th century as one of the guests, High Sheriff Julia Abel-Smith, is a descendant of Mr Wolton.