A WEIRD and wonderful array of customised bikes paraded through the city centre at the first ever Great British Bike Off festival.

More than 30 bikes with all manner of wacky features were ridden through Broad Street on Saturday defying the wind and rain as live music and food and drink stalls kept spectators happy.

The festival was organised by cyclist Ryan Howe, who wanted to create an event to bring the community together through bikes.

Inspired by the Houston Art Car Weekend in Texas - which sees people come together to watch a parade of more than 250 customised cars - he came up with the festival idea in 2015.

He said: "It's about getting people into all aspects of cycling, not just competitive cycling, but getting more people, including young people to get on a bike.

"We have been planning this for about 18 months now and we really wanted to bring the community together through bikes.

"The festival was a great success we had around 30 bikes submitted by youth clubs, businesses and cycling groups."

He added: "We also decided to raise money for the Ark T Centre in Cowley."

The 36-year-old from Littlemore hoped it would become an annual event and grow as its Texan inspiration has over many years.

Bikes were entered into four categories, previously customised, art and creativity, three wheels or more and teams.

Workshops on the mechanics of bikes were attended by more than 70 youngsters throughout the afternoon.

Oxford-based law firm Royds Withy King entered their 'extreme safety bike' to highlight how important cyclist safety was.

Senior marketing manager, Robert Pinheiro, said: "Our lawyers often work with cyclists who have been involved in collisions and a lot of our staff are cyclists as well so we are very aware of safety.

"It's about cyclists being responsible and safe and also about drivers doing the same.

"We were very happy to get involved with the festival and enter our bike.

"It was a good day and we had lots of people coming over to us to talk about safety which was great.

The 41-year-old, from Waterstock, added: "The bike was a bit tongue in cheek - it had lots more lights, more reflectors and it was very visual."

The festival was supported by Oxford City Council and made possible by a team of artists and young people from Ark T Centre, who volunteered their time and entered several customised bikes themselves.