HUNDREDS of youngsters and parents enjoyed a teddy bears' picnic in the grounds of Cliffe Castle Museum.

The event was arranged by Bradford Council's libraries service, helped by the council museum's service and Cliffe Castle Park Conservation Group.

More than a thousand people gathered between 11am and 3pm on Tuesday (Aug 5) to enjoy picnics outside the museum, along with entertainment such as a name the bear competition, a hook the duck contest, a mini assault course and a tombola.

Susan Brewster-Craig, development officer for early years libraries at the council, said: "We wanted to hold the picnic to encourage parents to come to the library and sign up themselves and their children.

"The event has been absolutely wonderful, really successful. The families loved it.

"It's been going for at least four or five years and has been getting bigger and bigger. This time we also invited children's centres to come and have stalls.

"All the families who came brought picnics and all the children brought a teddy bear with them. It was great to see them sitting all over the park.

"We had a lot of people sign up to join the library and also joining our summer reading challenge."

She added that more teddy bears' picnics are planned for other parts of the district. People can go to the libraries section of Bradford Council's website for further details.