SUNDAY firework displays in Weymouth have been defended by the town’s events manager.

Charlie Sheppard says there was sense in choosing the day as it tended to be quieter than Friday or Saturday and attracted more people to the town.

The response came after a question from Cllr Ken Whatley who said that the recent display had not seen many people attending and the further along the Esplanade from the Pavilion the numbers were sparse.

The four displays, which were promoted by the town council and supported by Weymouth Business Improvement District and individual businesses, were all held on Sundays this year. It was believed that the day would help keep visitors in town during bank holiday weekends and having a consistent day and time was better for marketing purposes.

“Whilst having the events on a Friday or Saturday could see higher numbers attending, one of the main goals of the event is to bring people into the town when they would not normally be here and increase footfall on a quieter day. It was this outcome that enabled the funding to be brought in and the events to go ahead,” said a report to councillors at Tuesday evening’s services committee meeting.

“Attendance was generally good on previous firework nights, however, there was an exceptionally high turn out of both visitors and residents for the bank holiday display. We estimate that between 12,500 and 15,000 attended on Sunday night,” said Charlie Sheppard.