Thousands gather for Abingdon bun throwing tradition to celebrate coronation

• ITV Meridian's Mike Pearse joined the gathering beneath County Hall

Thousands of people packed Abingdon town centre to have buns thrown at them, in honour of the coronation of King Charles III.

The buns, which are specially baked for the event, are chucked at people from the roof of County Hall by councillors and the local MP.

The tradition is said to date back more than 400 years and is carried out to mark major royal events.

Councillor Margaret Crick, Abingdon Town Council said: "It's quite a ridiculous thing to be doing. It's part of the tradition but we don't know when it started, or why it started."

The council said it's never seen so many people attend the event before, as a sea of people waited patiently in the town square for the buns to be lobbed at them from up high.

Layla Moran MP said: "This is my third one, I'm now well-practiced. As you can see, we're joined by thousands of people and it brings such wonderful energy to the town.

"If you know Abingdon, you know we love a bit of this!"

Victoria Moore, Abingdon Town Council said: "It's bigger than ever this year, I think we've got record numbers. We've had fun in the park earlier this afternoon and the crowds have just come across.

"It's crowds we've never seen before, they are stretching down all of the roads as well as the market place, so it's fantastic, it's really really good."