It was a weekend of free fun for many families at Clacton Pier.
The attraction welcomed frontline Emergency Services over Saturday and Sunday as a thank you for all they do for the community throughout the year.
Each family was given up to four free rides bands to enjoy across the site.
And on Sunday the pier celebrated Father’s Day with a free rides band for any adult who accompanied a paying child.
It was the first time that the initiative had been run for dads, grandads, uncles and guardians and it proved popular.
The idea had been trialled for the first time for mums in March and was equally successful.
Pier communications manager Nigel Brown said that it is important to give something back to the community.
“We have run the Emergency Services weekends for some years now and we have one for the Armed Forces and Veterans later in the year,” he added.
“It is great to see them come down and relax with their families and have a good time with us away from what are extremely stressful jobs.”
The Emergency Services included at the weekend were frontline Police, Fire, Ambulance, RNLI and Coastguard.
The pier remained open to other customers throughout the two days.
The Armed Forces and Veterans weekend will be staged on September 14 and 15 and those attending will need to produce a Forces ID card.
The pier’s next free fireworks display is on Saturday July 27 to mark the beginning of the school summer holidays.
