People in Thorpe St Andrew watched as their new town flag was raised above the much-loved River Green yesterday at an event to show off improvements to the area.

The town council has spent almost �70,000 on work at the area and the new flag designed for the town will flutter over the riverside spot in the future to mark events and special occasions.

The flag, which was made by designed and made by local company Gowise Print, includes a Latin inscription, translated as 'The town by the river'.

People taking part in the day of festivities joined in a family fun day on the green.

Town mayor John Ward said: 'Since we have become a town, we thought we wanted a flag. It is to give the town more identity.

'We like to think of ourselves as a separate entity from Norwich and I think the flag helps with that.'

He said it would be used for town events and would be raised on the new flagpole on the river green.

Among the events at the celebration were a barbecue run by the Sea Scouts, stalls and a beer tent.

Mr Ward said that the improvements to the river green had been a success and there was now improved access for wheelchairs, the area had been relandscaped and a new bus shelter had been put in.

Most of the money for the improvements came from developers to compensate for the loss of open space.

Is your town or village holding an event? Contact Evening News reporter Annabelle Dickson on 01603 772426 or email annabelle.dickson@archant.co.uk