JOURNALISTS are rarely, if ever, first in the queue when it comes to handing out plaudits to local councils.

And that's how it should be. When it comes to the activities at town halls, we're here by and large to criticise, hold to account, dish out the brickbats and spark debate - though the standard of that debate is often questionable, particularly when it's conducted online.

So it may come as something of a surprise that today's leader column seeks to praise Bournemouth Borough Council, not to bury it. Let's be honest, when the idea of the town hosting an air show was launched amid great fanfare at the Cumberland Hotel last summer, there were probably some who thought it would never happen, because it would have the fingerprints of local government all over it.

The doubters, if there were any, have been proved spectacularly wrong. Today (August 28), the four-day Bournemouth Air Festival takes to the skies to the throaty roar of the Spitfire, Hurricane and the Lancaster.

If the weather holds, around half a million people could flood into the town for the extravaganza, which features a lot more than just the Red Arrows and a large supporting cast of planes.

It promises to be heaven for aviation anoraks (including myself) as well as huge fun for everyone else too.

There'll be a few whingers, I'm sure, moaning about noise, traffic and carbon footprints.

But the small team at the council, led by tourism boss Mark Smith, has done a fantastic job in getting this off the ground and if all goes well the air festival will be an annual event. So congratulations to all those involved.

The town needs this and you deserve your four days in the sun.