Bridgwater Carnival cart designed for Queen's Platinum Jubilee

Bridgwater Carnival organisers have been asked to create a special cart to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

The Queen's 70-year reign will be celebrated in June with a street pageant and parade on The Mall.

Europe's largest illuminated procession has been cancelled again due to Covid-19 but clubs have been invited to build a cart for the Queen's parade.

Organiser Chris Hocking, said: "There are no carnivals again this year and the clubs are itching to get stuck in."

The "once-in-a-generation show" will take place over a four-day Bank Holiday weekend from Thursday, 2 June to Sunday, 5 June.

The parade near Buckingham Palace will include participants from across the UK and Commonwealth.

Mr Hocking, the carnival's project leader, said it was a "fantastic honour and a privilege" to be invited to take part.

"I've been having to keep my lips sealed since the beginning of April when I found out," he said.

"But Somerset is carnival county and it's in recognition of all the clubs in Somerset which put on such a spectacular event every year."

Members of every carnival club in the town will work together to build the cart from scratch "from the wheels upwards".

Mr Hocking said they were hoping to create a "super cart", to reflect the Queen's 70-year reign, which would be the "pride of Somerset".

"The parade is in the afternoon and in the middle of June, so it won't even be dimpsy [twilight] up there at that time but we fully intend to have it fully lit and everything moving," he said.

"It is going to be amazing to parade in front of the palace and see the thousands and thousands of people there - it's already making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up."