More than 250,000 people are expected to visit Portsmouth over the next four days to celebrate the end of the Cutty Sark tall ships race.

The last ships finished the race in Portsmouth Harbour on Wednesday after sailing from Alicante via Malaga, La Coruna, Brest and Santander.

The Tall Ships Race is an annual event bringing together young people from around the world to experience life at sea.

The end of the race is celebrated by a four-day celebration which climaxes on Sunday with all the vessels sailing together in a parade on the Solent.

The race attracts entrants from round the world

More than 4,000 crew members sailed the 66 ships in this year's race.

It is the world's largest international sailing event and Portsmouth will welcome ships from countries including Latvia, Germany, Spain and Poland.

The biggest ship competing is the 373ft Russian ship, Kruzenshtern, which is one of the largest sailing ships in the world.

Amongst the crews are 50 young people from Portsmouth, manning the Sail Training Association's Stavros S Niarchos.

First ship

They were selected from more than 160 applicants who all wanted to experience the adventure of a lifetime in sailing the final leg from Santander.

The first vessel arrived in Portsmouth on Saturday 10 August.

The Italian naval ketch Orsa Maggiore dropped anchor at Gunwharf Quays at around 1100 BST.

All the ships are now either berthed in Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth Naval Base or the Royal Clarence Yard in Gosport where they can be viewed by the public.