Communities are encouraged to bring out the bunting for a special four-day bank holiday weekend for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Dorset Council is inviting streets and communities across the county to start planning local events and parties to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's historic reign.

This year marks the year that Her Majesty the Queen became the first British Monarch to have served for 70 years, having acceded to the throne on February 6, 1952.

To make it easier to host your own street party, the council is waiving the costs of road closure applications in the area and welcomes residents to apply for a street party road closure. Residents will need to apply six weeks in advance.

Support is also available for communities through a £22million National Lottery fund designed to help communities celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. More information on the fund can be found on the National Lottery website.

Dorset will also be joining a national beacon lighting programme with beacons being lit across the county to mark the start of the celebratory weekend on June 2.

Councillor Val Pothecary, chairman of Dorset Council, said: “The Queen's Platinum Jubilee is going to be a very special national event, and we want as many people as possible to take part in the celebrations.

"As well as the more formal and also organised community events that will take place, we're encouraging people to get in the spirit and put on their own local events - it could be as simple as inviting your family and friends for a party in the garden, or a larger community event such as a street party for the neighbourhood.”

Town and parish councils across Dorset will be organising events with information put out locally. The Platinum Jubilee website also has an interactive map which will display all the events and activities that will be taking place in Dorset as well as the rest of UK and you can find out about local events and add details of your own to the site.

Find the website at www.platinumjubilee.gov.uk/events/

Websites useful for planning your street party are: The Big Jubilee Lunch - on the Eden Project Communities website, The Street Party Site, The Big Lunch 2022 and the Queen's Green Canopy, which is encouraging more tree planting to mark the Jubilee.

Don't forget to tell the Dorset Echo about your Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Let community content editor Joanna Davis know by emailing joanna.davis@dorsetecho.co.uk