HOLIDAY-makers and sunseekers descended on Bournemouth and Poole in droves over the bank holiday weekend.

Around 180,000 people were on Bournemouth beaches over the course of the weekend, and the changeable weather meant the town’s indoor attractions also enjoyed a bumper weekend.

Jasmine Connolly, of Bournemouth Tourism, said the free concerts and film showings on the former IMAX site were proving a big hit with visitors, with the area around Pier Approach packed during shows.

“I think people appreciate that fact that it is free, and many of them are on the beach anyway so it is easy to walk along and check it out,” she said.

“The hotels have been busy, although there have been vacancies, but the mixture of sunny spells and cloudy skies has meant indoor attractions have been quite popular.

“On the whole it has been a successful bank holiday for the town.”

A spokesman for Poole Tourism said: “We were very busy down here on Poole Quay on Saturday and Monday, although not so much on Sunday.

“There hasn’t been much accommodation left available. Fortunately the weather has been mostly quite nice.

“But we are expecting next weekend to be really busy.”

Crowds turned out in Wimborne and Christchurch on Sunday and Monday for duck races, and Wimborne saw an array of entertainments put on in the square.

Hundreds of people took part in the first-ever Bournemouth Parkrun at Kings Park Athletics Centre on Saturday, while similar numbers banded together for a competitive tug-of-war against a Boeing 737 at the fifth annual Dorset Plane Pull on Monday.

Meanwhile lovers of all things folk enjoyed performances from BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners Karine Polwart and Show of Hands at the Purbeck Folk Festival at Wilkswood Farm.

Bournemouth Air Festival, the country’s biggest free air festival, promises another busy weekend when it gets started on Thursday.

For those who couldn’t wait another week an RAF Catalina Flying Boat was spotted circling Poole on Sunday, while a Hurricane and Spitfire wowed crowds at the Verwood Rotary Club Rustic Fair on Monday afternoon.