THE Thistles is celebrating 40 years in Stirling.

On Saturday, May 27 the local community turned out in huge numbers as the birthday celebrations got off to a fun start.

The family-friendly party, hosted by Capital FM’s Garry Spence who soundtracked the day with all the biggest hits, saw a range of activities in the mall including party games, fantastic competitions, balloon modelling and of course birthday cake.

As a thank you to its customers, 40 lucky winners on the day received a birthday gift from The Thistles, with prizes including a handbag from Radley, gift cards from a selection of retailers including Oasis, Jack & Jones, Boots and Quiz, a luxury fragrance hamper from The Perfume Shop and chocolate hamper from Thorntons.

Phil Byrne, centre director at The Thistles, said: "Thank you to everyone who joined us for The Thistles 40th birthday party.

"It was quite a turnout and we were delighted to see so many embracing the fun, party spirit.

"Congratulations also to those who were lucky enough to win one of our 40 fantastic prizes.

"This year marks an important milestone in the centre’s history and we are pulling out the stops to ensure it is a memorable one.

"We are now looking forward to delivering our 40 Good Deeds throughout 2017, our way of saying a very big thank you to all of our customers and the local community."