Thousands of people gathered on Saturday and Sunday to enjoy a series of displays by aircraft in the sky above Roker and Seaburn.

Northumbria Police said the show had been well run and was only marred by a number of people drinking alcohol.

There were 17 arrests on Saturday, mostly in connection with drunkenness, and police had asked off-licences to restrict sales to over-21s.

The entertainment over the weekend included a B-52 Bomber from 23rd Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Base, North Dakota.

'Bumper crowds'

HMS Ocean visited the show on Saturday and there were displays by the Red Arrow and aircraft from the Royal Netherlands and Belgian Air Forces.

Airshow director Peter Chapman said: "As the event is free, it's very difficult to put an absolute figure on how many people have attended.

"Saturday was as busy as ever and even with changeable weather on the Sunday we still had bumper crowds."

Following the arrests, police had asked off licences to restrict sales to over-21s but said they were disappointed some stores appeared to have ignored that.

Police commander for the airshow Supt Michael Hartnack said: "The airshow was a tremendous event and excellently run with the emergency services all working together to ensure a safe event.

"Unfortunately there was a minority of people who marred the environment through their consumption of alcohol."