Young swashbuckling and eye patch wearing pirates invaded Royston on Saturday.

Royston Crow: Royston town centre Pirates Day.Royston town centre Pirates Day. (Image: Archant)

The High Street’s first pirate fun day proved a hit with little ones with hundreds of badges and cutlasses made, 400 treasure trails completed and more than 300 fake tattoos given.

Town manager Geraint Burnell, speaking for the Royston First Organisation, said: “Anyone who was in Royston on Saturday could have been forgiven for thinking they’d been transported to the Caribbean - aside from the weather.

“There were pirates everywhere. We had 34 entries for the fancy dress competition, and they only represented a proportion of those who came dressed-up, including some parents.

“The pirate day attracted somewhere in the region of 1,000 visitors to Royston.”

He thanked Retail Revival for staging the event and Hitchin Property Trust for lending their retail unit to the day.

A picture gallery of the 34 fancy dress competitors will be displayed in the window of 53 High Street for the next couple of weeks before the winner is announced. The prize is a giant teddy bear.