London oyster festival held in celebration of the meaty mollusc

A celebration of all things oyster has been held in west London, with a festival dedicated to the bivalve mollusc.

The event, in Notting Hill, included a shucking competition as well as cooking demonstrations, entertainment and, of course, eating.

The oyster has a long history in the capital, with excavations within the Square Mile routinely finding shells tossed away by Romans.

Oyster Day - a day at the beginning of August when they were brought into the fish markets for the first time of the year - was a highlight in the calendar of the city's Victorian poor.

Organiser of the Notting Hill event, Christopher D'Sylva, said the once-humble oyster "presents the future of what sustainable protein looks like".

And mayor of London Sadiq Khan recently said he had taken inspiration from a project in New York to return one billion oysters to the Hudson river.

Although he has emphasised the oyster's potential role in cleaning the river, rather than as a foodstuff, Mr D'Sylva is hopeful they will once again become a popular choice for hungry Londoners.