HUNDREDS of yellow ducks dashed down Menstrie Burn as the village marked the return of the much-anticipated community event.

The sun came out to shine down on the Hillfoots village as Menstrie Community Council welcomed a brilliant crowd to the event on Easter Sunday, March 31.

Altogether, 800 ducks paddled down the burn across four races with the Menstrie's Gala King and Queen releasing the rubber contestants from the Auld Bridge.

Ubaid Rehman, from Menstrie Community Council, said: “We were extremely lucky with the weather on Easter Sunday for our Duck Race in Menstrie.

“The warm bright sunshine played a vital role in drawing the crowds from the village and further afield.”

A younger group of volunteers were in charge of catching the ducks at the A91 bridge and Ubaid was pleased to report that not one managed to escaped.

There were chocolatey prizes for the top three in each race while a number of community stalls were in place for residents and visitors along with some food.

Ubaid added: “We were supported by our local community groups, TCV and FEL and our new café in Menstrie as Minnie’s Kitchen fed our amazing band of volunteers.

“Scotmid sponsored the winners with Easter eggs, SWI decorated the park and the Scouts put in a hard shift clearing away all the marquees

“All the proceeds from the day go towards funding our yearly Gala in early June, the theme this year will be Tartan.

“Thank you to our Menstrie residents and volunteers for making the event such a success.”

The community council will be looking forwards to organising the annual Menstrie Gala Week with a string of events in early June.

This will include Music in the Park on June 1 and Menstrie Gala Day on June 8.

Anyone looking to become a volunteer in Menstrie to help the community council with events can visit menstrie.org for more details.