ROARS of celebration came from a crowd of hundreds sat outside a West Swindon restaurant as England scored an all-important goal in their first Euro 2020 match.

Punters packed out pubs and restaurants around the town to watch Gareth Southgate’s team face off against Croatia yesterday.

Hospitality staff spent the day serving up plenty of pints and hot dishes while ensuring everyone could enjoy themselves safely. England flags and decorations covered many walls and ceilings.

The Ridge in West Swindon showed the big game on a cinema-sized screen in its large car park and set up food stalls, a bar and family fun activities to make the most of the sporting spectacular.

Gazebos sheltered some fans from the scorching sun as temperatures reached 28C, though many tanned in the open, draped in England flags or wearing Three Lions-branded shirts.

Have a look at pictures and videos of the crowd's reaction here.

Missed chances for England to score near the start had the crowd jolting up onto their feet before sinking back down onto their seats in disappointment over and over.

But when Raheem Sterling scored just after half-time pints to flew everywhere as the re-energised 500-strong audience burst into spontaneous chants of England Til I Die, It’s Coming Home, God Save the Queen and the traditional Eng-er-land rallying cry.

An even bigger burst of joyous pandemonium broke out when full-time arrived and merry revellers cheered a decisive win.

George Wingate, 25, from Cheney Manor watched it with 13 friends. He said: “The screen was great quality, there was a good atmosphere and England won, so can’t complain.”

Swindon Advertiser:

Cameron Baden, 26, from Abbey Meads, said: “Everyone kept to their own groups and I’ve had both my jabs so I felt safe, it was good.

“England’s beaten the hardest team in the group, so Scotland and Czech Republic have no chance. We’re coming back to watch Friday’s match so we’ll have to wait and see.”

Swindon Advertiser:

The Tanner and Wood families met up under a gazebo while their kids scored goals behind them and had England flags painted on their arms.

Louise Tate said: “It was good fun and the weather made it perfect. The kids loved it - they enjoyed seeing the drinks go up in the air and tried to recreate it with their water.”

Swindon Advertiser:

The Ridge manager Justin Britchford said: “It’s been good and we’re hoping to expand the area further for Friday with a compere to do a few songs, get people up singing, make it more of an event “