THOUSANDS turned out for the Royal Wedding celebrations in Maumbury Rings for what has been described as ‘an outstanding day for Dorchester’.

Crowds united at the outdoor venue to watch Prince William and Kate Middleton say ‘I do’ on the 16 square meter television screen that streamed the television broadcast live.

Organisers from Dorchester Town Council estimated that up to 4,000 attended the celebratory event with members of the public starting to arrive as early as 8.30am.

The crowds eagerly waved their Union Jack flags, many of whom were wearing red, white and blue, as the newly weds had their first public kiss as a married couple.

Following the main event, crowds were treated to a ‘Last Night of the Proms’-style musical performance in the afternoon.

Councillor Molly Rennie, chairman of the town council’s community activities panel, which agreed a budget of £7,000 for the event, said: “It was wonderful to see people getting into the spirit of the wedding.

“It has been an amazing community event.”

Dorchester town clerk Dennis Holmes added that the amount of people who turned up for the event beat the town council’s expectations.

Mayor of Dorchester, Leslie Phillips, said: “This was an outstanding day for Dorchester.

“On behalf of the people of Dorchester I wish William and Catherine every success in their married life together.”

Dorchester town crier Alistair Chisholm said: “The event was all about bringing the community together and that’s exactly what it did.”

Sinead Gannon, 41, from Poundbury was enjoying the day with her husband Alex and four children and friends from London.

Mrs Gannon said: “It was a lovely day and it was great that the whole town came together for it.”