Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas was spotted in Kent as competitors came together for a prestigious dance festival.

Medway Park Sports Centre hosted four days of Latin and Ballroom contests which concluded earlier this week.

The International Dance Festival 2024 took place from Sunday (September 29) to Wednesday (October 2) wand saw 10,000 dancers from 64 countries take part.

Winners of the age category events were crowned at Medway Park over the course of the event, while the top 50 couples from the Latin and Ballroom professional and amateur open events – as well as the top 14 couples from the Smooth professional open – went on to The Royal Albert Hall for the grand finals yesterday (October 3).

It was the fourth time the International Dance Festival has been hosted at the venue, which is a centre of sporting excellence and the home of dancing in the South East.

Mrs Ballas was appointed head judge on the BBC TV show in 2017 following the departure of the late Len Goodman who hailed from Kent and is set to be immortalised outside a dance studio in Dartford.

A lasting tribute to the TV star is to be funded by Dartford council and will sit outside the Goodman Dance Academy in the town centre that he opened in 1974.