George W is the target

A YEAR is a long time in bonfire politics. Last year it was Osama Bin Laden who incurred the wrath of the societies.

This year it was the turn of his arch-enemy George W Bush who was blown up at two different bonfire sites.

Cliffe depicted Bush with a rocket through his ears. Commercial Square paraded the US president astride a nuclear bomb.

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The threatened war with Iraq was, of course, the common theme.

The South Street tableau was a giant Rupert Bear constructed in memory of Harold Wheeler, who died in May. Harold dressed up as Rupert for years on Bonfire Night.

Waterloo took on the more complex motif of Mini Mouse and Winnie the Pooh squaring up in the boxing ring.

Apparently, the message was to emphasise the evils of corporate ownership of children's book characters.

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More than 25,000 flocked into Lewes to watch the celebrations a good deal fewer than in preceding years although the street remained seriously congested with people in the vicinity of the war memorial

Around 250 police officers were on duty and extra fire crews and paramedics were on standby to attend incidents.

In the event, Lewes Bonfire Night the largest in the country ended with few casualties and arrests.

Only 12 people were treated for minor injuries mainly small burns.

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And there was one man taken into custody for possessing controlled drugs.

No problems of disorder were reported.

Chief Superintendent Paul Pearce, incident commander, said: 'Lewes Bonfire is one of the Force's largest operations of its kind and it was a great success from a police perspective.

'The number of spectators in the town was slightly down on previous years, an indication that several thousand people probably heeded our early warnings to attend local celebrations rather than come to Lewes.

Not everyone was happy with bonfire however.

EIGHT PAGE PICTURE SPECIAL IN THIS WEEK'S EXPRESS

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