It was a case of ready . . . teddy . . . go for brave teddy bears and their owners at Bungay last weekend.

The Bungay Festival focus was on around 50 teddy bears – and the odd dodo, frog and penguin – as children took their toys to St Mary’s Church for a scary zip wire plunge from the top of the 90ft tower on Saturday.

In a first for the festival and the church, the beloved charges were harnessed one by one to the wire before plunging to the end in the churchyard, watched by a large, excited and, in some cases, anxious crowd.

The event was the culmination of the festival’s Teddy Bears Picnic, held at the Castle Hills and organised by the SureStart Dragonflies Children’s Centre in conjunction with Fosters Solicitors, and set up by family support worker Penny Reeve and Amy Ward.

The Friends of St Mary’s co-operated, with chairman Martin Evans at the top of the tower to release the toys.

Some owners could hardly bear to look, but admired the bare-faced courage of the teddies.

There was only one mishap as one bear became disconnected from the wire and plunged to the churchyard, but like all brave bears, quickly recovered.

At the Castle Hills children enjoyed a range of activities and competitions, including face-painting, relay games, and of course a picnic, all in warm sunshine, while Fosters provided balloons for everyone, before children, bears and parents marched to the church for the dramatic climax to the successful event.