AS ROMSEY residents and visitors enjoy the colourful floats of the carnival this weekend, we take a look back at the event 40 years ago.

It wasn't a great year for the procession as the day was plagued with a series of problems.

The carnival week ended in chaos and confusion when the cavalcade of floats split in two, traffic hounded movement, police had to deal with a body and fights broke out.

Somehow the back end of the procession became detached from the rest and motorists squeezed into the middle.

In the midst of the consequential traffic jams, police officers had to deal with the death of a man in the White Horse Hotel. The undertaker also had problems getting to the venue.

To complete a busy night for the police, officers were called to the carnival disco at the Crosfield Hall shortly after midnight. It was reported that about 70 people were watching youths fight outside.

In despite of all the problems, the revellers in these pictures clearly seemed to have been enjoying themselves.

Lets hope today's procession goes much, much smoother.