Norman gives first refusal to New Years' fans

It's an excellent move by Norman Cook to reward those who made it through the grim, rain-lashed New Years Eve Brighton Beach Party first refusal for this year's late summer beach show:

"I want to say thank you to everyone who made it such a success in spite of everything the weather threw against us."

He suffered a series of electric shocks as strong winds drove the rain onto his record decks.

He said: "It was chaos but I had a lovely warm feeling from the crowd. It was like a Dunkirk spirit - "we will brave the elements and we will have fun."

Perhaps the comparison of a windswept beach party with the conditions during the evacuation of Dunkirk might be a little tactless while the event is still comfortably within living memory, mind, but it's encouraging that the Fatboy Slim beach parties seem to have now become a regular event in the Brighton calendar, given its difficult start.