Despite concerns over ticket availability, the Scottish and European Cheerleading Championships held at the Caird Hall in Dundee this weekend were hailed as a great success.

Organiser Steve Walls said the event has grown yet again and celebrated its eighth year by welcoming young competitors from across the country.

He said, “We have around 1500 taking part in this competition and it is really a big success.

“The event has grown a lot over the last eight years and this year there were whole squads who had to be turned away.

“It has become so big now that the Caird Hall just isn’t big enough to fit everyone in.”

Earlier this month some mums complained that not enough tickets were allocated for local families.

However Mr Walls said that next year’s event will see changes to the way tickets are allocated to give local people more of a chance to attend.

“Next year we are going to allocate each cheerleader with a certain amount of tickets, and give them a set time of two weeks to purchase them,” he explained.

“There are about 109 cheerleaders in total from the local area competing this weekend and it is now a big thing for the local economy.

“All the money made from this goes back into Dundee and because I am from the city it is important that it supports local business.

“I have spoken to people in the hotel trade and they tell me it is a great boost for them.

“Some squads have had to find accommodation as a far out as Kinross and make the journey every day to take part.”

Local teams performed well throughout the competition. On Saturday, for the under-nines, Dundee Ace Allstars were named Scottish champions and PeeWee Cheer Dundee Sharks came second.

In the youth cheer competition Dundee Sharks came seventh and Dundee Ace Arrows came third.

At junior cheer level three, Dundee Sharks were named Scottish champions, and at junior cheer level five Ace Tribe Allstarz came second. Ace Tribe Elite were named Scottish champions for senior cheer level five.

Yesterday, Dundee Sharks came second and Ace Allstarz were named European champions.

At junior cheer level three, Dundee Sharks came second; at junior cheer level five Ace Tribe Allstarz came second; and at senior cheer level five Ace Tribe Elite came second, which qualifies them for the world championships in Florida USA next year.