Dartmouth has come under fire for failing to capitalise on the Royal Navy marching pageant which could have put the town on the tourist map.

Small crowds turned out for the Britannia Royal Naval College's Freedom of the Town march on Saturday as more than 100 Royal Navy young officers and servicemen and women paraded from the college to the Guildhall.

But despite the weather the town could have been packed for the colourful event which has only ever taken place now twice in 50 years.

'It was a fabulous sight for people and I just feel we could have made more of it,' Cllr Francis Hawke said.

And Dartmouth Business Forum Paul Reach said the marketing of the event had been so poor he had not even known it was happening