DOZENS of people put on their raincoats and headed to Preston docks at the weekend for a beach party!

People piled to the docklands area to make a splash on Saturday May 18 at the launch of their fourth annual beach party -- with crowds enjoying the fashion shows and boat racing.

The Marina was a wash with visitors enjoying the water sports including dragon boat racing and a wake boarding tournament -- a cross between water-skiing and snowboarding.

British wake-boarding champion Don Nott was demonstrating his skills in the latest trend to hit the UK which is set to become even more popular after this weekend's activity.

Models strutting their stuff on a specially prepared catwalk were showing off fashions from famous designer labels Quiksilver and Trespass.

While there was no letting up on the dreary weather people enjoyed cool ice-creams and cold drinks as well as tasty barbecued nibbles as passengers cruised up and down the docks having a fun day out.

Sue Cameron, manager of water sports shop Shock-Waves, based at Preston Marina, said: "We couldn't plan the weather but everything else ran smoothly and Preston folk enjoyed a great day out -- the beach party was a huge success!"