THIS year's Ledbury Poetry Festival was always going to be record-breaker, not least because its £90,000 budget was the biggest to date.

But with the final figure is still being tallied, organisers are confident that costs will be covered and records will tumble concerning visitor numbers.

Organiser Richard Surman said: "It was the best ever festival with our largest audiences and a spectacular range of events. We had higher audiences than last year, a noticeably higher interest in the pure poetry attractions."

Mr Surman said his personal highlight was the Town Party, which at its height attracted a crowd of 1,500 to Cuban rhythms by the Market House.

His personal favourites among the poets were Tom Paulin, Eva Salzman, Greg Delanty and Carol Ann Duffy.

He added: "I was also delighted with the musical events such as the Flamenco and Stacey Kent. You could not have ended the festival on a better high.

At the time of going to press, the total number of visitors to this year's festival had not been calculated. But ticket sales, combined with the Town Party, put the number at around 9,000, and possibly considerably more.