Little Luke Skywalkers and pint-sized Princess Leias take over Sunderland centre

Everyone from Princess Leia to Judge Dredd, and a swarm of Sith lords in between, flocked to the Scifair event at Seaburn Centre.

This weekend’s event saw around 700 people attend to check out the stalls which included science fiction memorabilia, costume group Universal Alliance and fantasy novels.

Keith Lawler, from Scifair Events, said: “The Seaburn Centre is always a good venue for us, we host events four times a year here. We hope we don’t lose it next year because of all the regeneration along the seafront.

“When we started the event it was quite quiet on the collectors fair front, but it gets bigger and bigger each year. We want to keep it free because it helps local businesses to sell their goods and encourages people walking past to come in and have a look around.

“A lot of people dress up and you see some very elaborate costumes.”

Author Michelle Birbeck from Hartlepool says the event is a great way of promoting her vampire, paranormal and science fiction novels.

“There’s been a lot of interest and I sell quite a few books at these events, I’ve never had a bad day at one of them,” she said.

She added: “Because of films coming out like Star Wars, it’s attracting a whole new generation of fans who haven’t seen the original films, so there’s a broad age range of people who come along.”