Street parties across Britain include one held by republicans

Street parties were held across the country to mark the golden jubilee. Tony Blair, who joined one in Trimdon, County Durham, said: "It's fabulous to have a great jubilee celebration ... It's a great way to celebrate what the Queen has done for this country for the last 50 years."

Revellers in Birmingham enjoyed the UK's largest jubilee party outside London. More than 25,000 people crammed onto the streets of the city centre for the Lord Mayor's Show, which was followed by a screening of the Party at the Palace and a spectacular fireworks finale.

Partygoers in Bristol could choose from 50 events organised by the city council and 80 picnics, parties and fairs staged by local groups and residents.

The main attraction was a free 10-hour BBC Music Live concert at the heart of Bristol's harbourside, dubbed "The World on the Waterfront". Artists playing world music, jazz and samba entertained thousands on six stages dotted around the city centre.

At a party in the High Street in Marlborough, Wiltshire, a tea party with 1,200 chairs and tables was followed by a brass band, a 40-piece orchestra, a play for children and a disco in the evening.

In Cardiff, a crowd of more than 300 braved wet weather to watch a 21-gun salute.

In Scotland, activities ranged from music festivals to garden parties. The decommissioned royal yacht Britannia at Leith held a day of celebrations and a salute was fired at Edinburgh Castle.

But a note of opposition was sounded at Glasgow Green, where about 150 people joined the Scottish Socialist leader and MSP Tommy Sheridan for a republican garden party with stalls, food, music and poetry recitals.

Mr Sheridan told the crowd, which had gathered under the banner "citizens not subjects", that the Royal Family symbolised the inequality in Britain.