The stars of hit BBC comedy ‘Allo, ‘Allo! were on hand to open the very first Whitchurch re-enactment weekend.

Kim Hartman, who was Helga Geerhart, Richard Gibson, who was Herr Flick, and Guy Siner, who played Lieutenant Gruber, attended the two-day extravaganza which took place at Hadley Park in Prees.

It was the first show to be hosted as part of the Whitchurch Volunteers First World War Re-enactment Group, however, it looked at all ages of warfare, from Roman and the Medieval times, through to the Napoleonic era, and the Second World War, and featured encampments, sword fights and military vehicles.

Simon Shillabeer, who organised the event with Market Drayton deputy mayor, Mark Whittle, said it was “absolutely brilliant”.

He continued: “Everybody wants to see it again next year, the public loved it.

“We put a lot of work into it and we knew it would be fairly big but we had 142 vehicles, different re-enactment groups, and it has definitely encouraged more support for next year.

“The guys from ‘Allo, ‘Allo! were so impressed. They loved the atmosphere, how they could mingle with the vehicle owners and the re-enactment groups and the public’s response, so they would love to come back next year too.

“A lot of people have said it is great that something like this has come to Whitchurch.”

Simon also thanked the hosts, Paul and Jan Wynn, for allowing them the use of the site and also the volunteers who made the event possible.