LAST year's foot and mouth epidemic was a distant memory as locals and tourists soaked up the sun at this year's Luss Highland Gathering.

The popular event was cancelled last year due to the outbreak of the disease but it bounced back in 2002 with thousands attending.

The torrential rain this summer cancelled the Balloch Games and threatened to scupper the Luss event but it stayed dry and those attending enjoyed watching and participating in traditional events such as tossing the caber, tug of war and piping competitions.

All that exercise was bound to work up a thirst which could be quenched in the beer tent or at the many stalls selling soft drinks.

Stalls also sold traditional Scottish sweets and jewellery, camping equipment, toys and tartan.

The president of the games committee, David Christie, said: “It’s going very well this year. It was cancelled last year because of foot and mouth. The field was very wet but we got it ploughed and that helped. We thought at one point we would have to cancel because of the rain.”