The JCB Dancing Diggers take a bow at JCB's diamond jubilee open day.

Around 30,000 employees and members of the British public enjoyed an open day at JCB's Rocester headquarters to mark its 60th anniversary last weekend.

Reginald Rushton, 77, a retired construction worker, travelled from his Anglesley home to attend the event.

"Everything from the factory tour to the musical finale has been very well organised. Seeing the JCB success story first hand makes you feel proud to be British," he said.

British TV celebrity Christopher Biggins compered the events that took place in a huge outdoor arena erected in the factory grounds.

The JCB Dancing Diggers performed, accompanied by the JCB GT, a high-speed digger fitted with a V8 Chevrolet engine capable of doing more than 100mph.

The open day was planned mainly for the company's 4,500 employees at 10 UK factories in Rocester, Rugeley, Uttoxeter, Wrexham, Cheadle and Church Broughton in Derbyshire.

More than 27,000 visitors participated in the factory tour and an additional 3,000 attended the lakeside concert and fireworks display.

The late Joseph Cyril Bamford established the company in a lock-up garage in Uttoxeter on October 13, 1945. JCB now has production factories on four continents and an annual turnover of GBP1 billion (USD1.8 billion).