THE SOUND of motorbikes of all descriptions filled the air on the roads between Magor and Chepstow on Sunday.

The annual Hoggin' the Bridge festival brought bikers on two, three and four wheels from classic scooters and powerful Harley Davidsons to trikes, scramblers, quad bikes and even a motorised rickshaw.

The ride from Aust to Chepstow via Magor and Caldicot brings bikers from all over the country and from just down the road.

Among the local riders were Jim and Shonagh French of Caldicot who were on their first Hoggin' the Bridge.

Mr French said: "I passed my test in March and we were riding my Honda 250 Superdream which is 31 years old.

"As we were coming up the (Pwllmeyric) hill a guy on a big bike shouted across: 'I had one of those when they first came out.'

"It's a great event, really friendly.

"You've got all these people here and I doubt you'll hear any bad language and millions of pounds worth of motorbikes but nobody would dream of trying to steal anything."

It took around two hours for all the bikes to make it into the town centre and hundreds of well-wishers lined the route to see the machines.

There were also stalls and live music from local bands in Beaufort Square and White Lion Square.

Last year the event raised more than £17,500 for charity including Chepstow Street Pastors, the Wales Air Ambulance and the Meningitis Trust.

The charities to benefit from this year's run will be decided next week.

Organiser Jacqui Sullivan said: "We had 3,000 bikes in Chepstow and we ran out of space in the Welsh Street car park so we went into Welsh Street and Moor Street.

"We've had a tremendous amount of support from the community and more sponsorship which means more money will go to charity.

"It's a really friendly event – people connect on Facebook and then meet in Chepstow."

The event was started in 2000 by the late Rex Forster who provided an escort of Harley Davidsons for a sponsored walk across the Severn Bridge.

Chepstow has been the destination since the sixth of the runs.

•See more photographs in this week's Chepstow & Caldicot News.