MORE people lined the streets of Tonbridge back in September for the "home-coming" of Kelly Holmes than turned out in London's Trafalgar Square on Monday for Team GB's victory parade.

The reception was looking distinctly lukewarm half an hour before the Parade of Heroes was due to start, with more policemen lining the route than fans.

However, despite criticism that the parade had been badly publicised and that a Monday had been a bad choice for the event, the streets slowly began to fill up, with an estimated 15,000-strong cheering crowd in Trafalgar Square as the parade reached its climax.

This was in stark contrast to the reported 40,000 who jammed Tonbridge town centre for the open top bus parade for Hildenborough's very own Kelly Holmes, shortly after the double Olympic Gold-winning athlete's return from Athens.

On Monday in London, fans waved flags and cheered as more than 100 medallists from the 2004 Olympics and Paralympics went past on floats.

The two-mile parade, ending at Trafalgar Square, marked Britain's best performance in the games since 1924. Team GB won 30 medals, nine of them gold; the Paralympic squad won 94 medals, 35 of them gold, and finished second to China.

Loud cheers and applause greeted the stars as they left on five floats. And in scenes reminiscent of her homecoming parade in Tonbridge, Kelly was greeted by chants of "Kelly, Kelly" as she came into the crowd's view.

Before the parade Kelly Holmes, said: "It is a really special moment, not just for myself but also for all the other sports stars who did so well. I have reached the pinnacle of my career.

"This is the ultimate of what I can do. I do not think I can repeat it. I'm just enjoying it and having a wonderful time today."

Later, Kelly joined her team-mates at a reception hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.