Captain Jack Sparrow and his pirate crew descended on the Eastgate shopping centre for a bumper school holiday treat.

Youngsters and shoppers queued to meet Captain Jack who posed for photos on a spectacular throne made of bones – a replica prop used in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

Hundreds of people enjoyed the event on Saturday at the shopping centre, in Basildon, with children and adults alike making the most of the free event and a steady stream of visitors enjoyed taking part in the activities and interacting with the characters during the day of fun.

There were hilarious walkabouts throughout the day from comedy duo Swash and Buckle – the Pirates of Northants.

The nautical pals sailed around Eastgate on their barnacle covered ship crooning sea shanties and some hits from the 80s including Wham’s Club Tropicana and even Spandau Ballet’s Gold.

There was a fancy dress competition to find the Basildon’s best dressed pirate and a prize for the best pirate jig, which was hotly contested by those walking past.

Stilt walker Nautical Nancy stood tall in her beautiful wave dress and ocean liner headdress looking for the sea with her telescope and posing for selfies with shoppers.

Youngsters also got creative in a swashbuckling workshop decorating pirate masks and beards, telescopes, ships and whales, which proved to be a popular feature of the all day event, organised by Eastgate.

Eastgate centre manager Ian Clark said: “It was a lovely to see all the young pirates of Basildon dressed up to join Captain Jack’s crew.”