SIZZLING summer sunshine set the seaside tills ringing at the weekend - as tens of thousands of people flocked to the coast.After a miserable wet and cold start to the season, it was just the tonic Felixstowe's tourist trade needed with the resort packed from end to end with people enjoying the attractions, beach and sea.

SIZZLING summer sunshine set the seaside tills ringing at the weekend - as tens of thousands of people flocked to the coast.

After a miserable wet and cold start to the season, it was just the tonic Felixstowe's tourist trade needed with the resort packed from end to end with people enjoying the attractions, beach and sea.

Traders said it was the best weekend for five years as temperatures hit 24C.

The main holiday beaches looked like a scene from the 1960s and 1970s with hardly any space to spare to put your towel, the prom was packed with people enjoying an after-lunch stroll, and there were queues at all the ice cream kiosks and food outlets.

Parking spaces were at a premium with the roads choc a bloc with vehicles and the attractions were all busy along Sea Road.

Stan Harris, director of Ocean Amusements, which runs the amusements alongside the prom on the south side of the pier, said it had been a brilliant weekend.

“I think that's the busiest we have been since the Golden Jubilee music festival weekend in 2002,” said Mr Harris.

“It was excellent.

“That's how we like to see Felixstowe - packed with people enjoying themselves, everyone having a good time and no problems.”

But he warned that it would take more than one good weekend to make up for the disappointing weather this summer.

“Two days doesn't make a summer and we really need five or six weekends like that to get our season back on track. May, June and July were so awful.”

One ice cream kiosk operator said: “It's been phenomenal - I haven't stopped all day.

“I think it's the first time we have had them queuing this summer. We haven't run out but we have sold very well indeed.”

Shopkeepers in the town centre also saw trade go up with many visitors taking time out to visit the town as well as the seafront.

What do you like best about a daytrip to Felixstowe? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk