SOME 1,500 car enthusiasts braved the elements for a popular Cotswold charity motor show.

The Cotswold Festival of Motoring was held this weekend (Sunday, September 24) at the Bourton Vale Cricket Ground.

John Barber organised the event on behalf of the North Cotswold Rotary Club, which was attended by about 1,500 visitors on the day, raising 'thousands' for charity.

He said: "It was very challenging, but it turned into a really great event. The weather was certainly against us for the first half of the day.

"We had a great array of cars, which was brilliant considering a lot of classic car owners do not usually risk coming out in those sorts of conditions as they are their pride and joy.

"Everyone had a bit of the old Dunkirk spirit in the morning in the rain, but thankfully later on it did stop and we were able to make the most of the event."

There were over 200 cars from over the past 100 years at the event, ranging from modern Lamborghinis at one end of the cricket ground, to a 1920s Rolls Royce Silver Ghost at the other end.

Mr Barber said it was disappointing to have a planned RAF Spitfire fly-over cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions.

He said: "A lot of people were still out and about battling the elements, but unfortunately due to forecast strong crosswinds at Coningsby, our planned Spitfire flyover was cancelled.

"Our band, the 77's, performed a great array of music, all of our fantastic volunteers, stallholders, attendees and our principal sponsor, Brio Retirement Living, made the event a real success.

"All the feedback from the event has also been brilliant."

At the moment, the grand total has still not been accumulated, but Mr Barber predicted a large sum which will be going to some fantastic causes.

He said: "We are still waiting for the grand total to come in, but there were thousands raised from this event for the Sue Ryder Hospice.

"In addition, we have never done a raffle before, but for the first time at this event, we held one which raised about £4,000 which will all go towards a hospital in Ukraine.