Preston Windrush event founders thank 'brave' immigrants

Hundreds attended the festival of music and culture in Avenham Park

Organisers of a Preston festival celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Empire Windrush vessel's arrival in the UK say they wanted to thank people for "being so brave for coming over".

The ship brought hundreds of passengers from various Caribbean islands to help fill post-war labour shortages in 1948.

Organiser Carol Harris said: "We wanted to say thank you and look at this wonderful community we've got now."

Hundreds attended the event in Avenham Park.

Co-founder Adrian Murrell said: "Preston had a huge West Indian community back in the 1950s and I just think it's only right that we acknowledge what they went through - that's why the festival started."

The anniversary is being marked by exhibitions, events and a new set of stamps

The HMT Empire Windrush vessel docked in Tilbury, Essex, on 22 June 1948, with passengers from the Caribbean along with a number of Polish travellers.

People from the Caribbean had been encouraged by the 1948 British Nationality Act that granted citizenship in the UK to all members of the British Empire.

However, in 2018, the UK government apologised after it emerged they had not properly recorded the details of those allowed to stay in the UK, which had led to the wrongful deportation of many.

HMT Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury in 1948