Weekend of celebrations for Queen's birthday

There have been celebrations across the South East to mark the Queen's official 90th Birthday. Parties have been held in streets, community centres and even the grounds of stately homes. Andrea Thomas reports

Parties have been held in streets, pubs community centres and town squares across the ITV Meridian region to mark this special day. Mary Stanley joined some of the festivities.

People in Penshurst are among thousands across the South today celebrating Her Majesty the Queen's 90th birthday.

While the UK's largest Patron's Lunch, named after the Queen's patronage of good causes, is in London's Mall, Kent has welcomed hundreds to celebrate at street and village parties and picnics.

In Penshurst, 300 villagers of all ages are enjoying a picnic lunch in the grounds of Penshurst Place, home of the Lord-Lieutenant of Kent.

Lord De L'Isle is delighted with the response from local communities. In his personal message, he says:

"The purpose of our parties in Kent is to bring our communities together and celebrate with Her Majesty and drink to her health, while wishing her every happiness.

"I should like to thank the many people who have organised lunches for all their hard work, including local authorities, parish councils, local committees and my Deputy Lieutenants."

Thousands turned out for the traditional craziness that was Abingdon's royal bun throwing.

The 255-year old tradition, in the town square, takes place to mark royal events.

The 4,500 specially-baked currant buns, which feature a crown design on the top, were thrown from the roof of the county hall.

It wasn't without incident. Lots of people posted videos of the event on social media, showing you had to keep your eye on the ball to avoid being struck by a flying cake!

Fi Cooper captured the moment a bun came hurtling towards the gentleman next to her- thankfully no harm done. Click the link to see the video

Great Western Railway is celebrating the Queen’s 90th birthday with a specially designed livery on one of its trains.

The High Speed Train Power Car will be in service from today travelling the length of the Great Western Main Line as the celebrations take place across our region.

A specialist team ‘wrapped’ the train in a day at GWR’s Laira Depot and it carries images of the flying flags of the Royal Standard and the Union.

The rail company have released this time lapse footage of how the commemorative wrap was put in place.