THERE was a rainbow-clad procession in Alloa last weekend for the town's first ever LGBTI pride day.

Around 200 people came out to celebrate the event and were in fine voice as they joined in the colourful parade on Saturday afternoon.

The march kicked off from the train station, before heading through the town to the Bowmar Centre for a few hours of family fun.

Attendees then went along to Peppe's for an evening of entertainment.

Alloa Pride was organised in the wake of an alleged homophobic incident, said to have taken place earlier this year.

Sarah Drummond and Lousie Downe, had been travelling through to Stirling on a train bound for Clacks when they claim to have been confronted by a group of women.

They contacted British Transport Police and one female has since been charged over the allegation.

However, the two women set their sights on spreading a more positive message and raising awareness of homophobia in our communities by hosting a pride event in the town.

Sarah previously spoke about the encouraging response she and her partner had received from people in Clackmannanshire, with dozens coming forward to offer their support for the event.

She told the Advertiser this week: "We can't believe so many people turned out from Alloa and surrounding towns and cities in Scotland.  

"It was a fantastic day, full of love and happy faces, supported by the town who donned rainbow flags and changed their shop window displays.

"We had only intended it to be a quick pint in one of the pubs with some friends, over 200 people turned out to support Alloa Pride and by the end of the evening, there were already plans being made for 2017."

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, attended the event and praised the efforts of all those involved.

She said: “It was an absolute privilege to join with so many local people and organisations from across Clackmannanshire and Scotland to celebrate the first ever Alloa Pride event.

"The organisers made the day a fantastic success, and I look forward to building on this success for next year and beyond.”

Manager of the Central Scotland Regional Equality Council (CSREC), Arun Gopinath, added: “It was great to see the turnout for Alloa Pride and the support from the local community and from Clackmannanshire Council, which flew the Rainbow Flag.

"This was the first ever Pride event in the Forth Valley, a very positive development because it shows the confidence that LGBTI persons from the area have in being themselves in their own communities and that we don’t have to travel to Edinburgh and Glasgow for events like this.

“The idea for the event arose in the aftermath of [an alleged] homophobic hate incident that happened on a train to Alloa from Glasgow, and Alloa Pride demonstrated the triumph of love over hate.

"Having said that, we must continue to stand up to hate and report hate crimes and incidents, whether we are a victim or a witness.”