For the third time, members of churches throughout the town joined together to perform the Good Friday Passion Play, which was witnessed by large crowds at three different locations as the cast progressed through the biblical story.

They began at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, where scenes from the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane were performed.

They then moved on to the Buttermarket, where the 'trial' of Jesus was held, before he carried the cross down to the Abbey Gardens, where the crucifixion and resurrection were re-enacted.

The Rev Jonathan Ford, who produced the play and performed as a centurion, said months of preparation had gone into pulling off the 90-minute street spectacle.

He said: "It went very well. When we last did this two years ago we had a couple of thousand people watching, but this time there was more.

"Our aim was to move more than 1,500 people to three locations in an hour-and-a-half, and try to give them some street theatre."

Mr Ford added: "All the churches in Bury came together to do this.

"Some of the cast grew beards especially for the performance.

There was also tremendous support from the borough council, which let us use the gardens, and the police who helped with crowd control."


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