The RAF has defended its inaugural Spirit of Adventure event following criticism from visitors.

The air show - designed to promote the work of the RAF - was held at Abingdon Airfield on Saturday, but Sunday's show was cancelled due to heavy rain.

It was staged by event specialists Jervis Entertainment Media and promoted and managed by London-based 3a.

Crowds of up to 100,000 had been forecast, but the actual attendance was far lower.

In a series of postings on the Oxford Mail website, some visitors said the show was "overpriced and disappointing", while others called it a "shambles."

The show's PR representative, Lucy Wigginton from Republic Media, told the Oxford Mail on Saturday that 8,000 people had gone through the gate that day and she anticipated a further 8,000 the following day.

However, many of those who attended claimed the number of visitors was far lower and said the show was poor and overpriced at £25 a ticket.

Visitor Andy Pewter, from Oxford, wrote: "It was diabolical. There was hardly anything to see or do and the much-vaunted movie was dull, dull, dull."

Dave Burnell, from Wiltshire, claimed there were only 1,000 people there. He wrote: "Dreadful day out. Never again."

RAF Group Captain Andy Turner, who was involved with setting up the event, said organisers were happy with the way it had been run by Jervis, but were disappointed at the attendance.

He said he had received a number of favourable comments, but admitted there was a 'long list' of things they would do differently next time.

He added: "I was very pleased with the event organisation, how it was set up and rolled out. I was disappointed in how many people came and I think that's due to a failure in promoting the event in the local area."

In response to comments that the show did not compare to airshows like Fairford's International Air Tattoo, he said: "What we set out to do was to explain what the RAF does, rather than what the aircraft can do, and I think we succeeded in doing that, to those who attended.

"The event was never billed as an airshow like Fairford or Kemble."

He said the event cost around £500,000 but was not funded using taxpayers' cash, but entirely by 3a.

Despite the criticisms, not all visitors left unimpressed.

One of those who wrote in support of the event was Neil Wheatley, from Abingdon.

He wrote: "It was a great day, well staffed and very interesting.

"I enjoyed every aspect of the show and really enjoyed both the ground events and the air show. £25 does not buy you much these days, and I thought it was good value."

*Oxfordshire was officially colder than parts of the Arctic during the washout Bank Holiday weekend.

The Met Office said temperatures at Brize Norton and RAF Benson on Sunday and Monday were colder than Banak, in northern Norway.

Temperatures reached a high of 10.5C (51F) on Sunday and 9.9C (50F) on Monday in Brize Norton, and 10.6C (51F) on Sunday and 9.2C (49F) on Monday in RAF Benson, compared to 13C (55F) in Banak on both days.

Forecasters said the weather would remain unsettled this week, but temperatures should climb to about 17C (63F) by the weekend.