THE Mills came alive this afternoon as hundreds of visitors flocked to see impressive horse riding and colourful costumes during a annual jousting tournament.

The display, by professional display team the Knights of Arkley, was the star attraction at the Medieval-themed fun day on the Beaulieu Drive site.

Families soaked up the sunshine and watched as the knights took each other on, first on horseback, then in hand to hand combat, which drew excited gasps from the crowd.

In a dramatic showdown the heroic blue and red knights clashed with the dastardly black knight and his sidekick the yellow knight.

In the end the good triumphed over evil and the defeated black knight was booed off the field, much to the delight of the younger audience members.

Speaking after the show, the black knight, aka Joe Roboni, who co-owns the Knights of Arkley, with partner Penny Hand said they tried to give a real taste of medieval times.

He added: "We're very much about entertainment, but we are also authentic to a point.

"We've been to Dubai, we've performed all over Europe, we do Royal shows, all over the country, we've been together for about 30 years.

"A lot of these guys are professional stunt men, stunt riders, professional horse people, they're the best."

For more information visit knightsofarkley.com