A NEW royal retinue was crowned at the Rose Fete on Saturday.

Lois Ball, a Middlewich Primary School pupil, was crowned 2017/18 rose queen at the rose fete’s first ceremony since going solo from FAB Festival.

The day started with a field procession, led by Middlewich High School Samba Band, across to Market Field before the official crowning ceremony.

Retiring royals were in attendance, alongside new town mayor Samantha Moss who crowned the new retinue along with 2017 crown bearer Mia Bolton.

Karen Fewtrell, rose fete committee chair lady, said: “It was a really successful event.

“Despite the poor weather the children really loved it and that’s what counts.

“We’ve really had our work cut out for the rose fete this year, but we’ve had a fantastic team and I’m proud of all their efforts.

“The children had a great time with all of our events, which is really what we made an effort with when we decided to organise it ourselves.

“It’s a children’s festival and it’s we wanted to make sure they enjoyed it.

“There’s also a lot of support out there in the community as well so I’d like to thank everybody that got involved to help.

“My daughter’s already asking when next year’s festival is going to be.”

Newly crowned rose queen Lois Ball, taking her charity work seriously, jumped straight into a field collection for Diabetes UK, accompanied by Disney characters.