SOCIABLE residents in a York street met up to enjoy lunch together.

Residents in Norfolk Street hosted the Big Lunch street party in the sunshine to encourage a sense of community spirit and to foster neighbourhood friendships. Children took part in fun activities and neighbours were able to hunt for books at a bookstall as well as eat.

The Big Lunch is a national challenge organised by the Eden Project which aims to get as many people in the UK as possible together with their neighbours for a few hours on Sunday.

This is the third annual lunch event – on previous years it has attracted around a million participants.

Anna Southall, interim chairman of the Big Lottery Fund, which has supported the project, said: “The Big Lunch is firmly establishing itself as a simple way to bring people together who might otherwise not have had the chance to meet.”