TENS of millions of pounds were raised on Friday night as Comic Relief returned to our screens for another year.

Jam-packed with sketches, musical acts and a long awaited sequel to Love Actually , the night did not disappoint.

In total more than £71m was raised on the night thanks to millions of generous donations from across the country.

In spite of a few technical glitches, overall the night was well received by audiences. An average of 6.2 million viewers tuned in to watch the programme, and it scored a peak of 7.6 million.

Throughout the week, people across south Cumbria thought up fun and wacky ways of raising money for Red Nose Day.

Children at Victoria Academy, in Barrow, erupted in a flash mob just as school started.

In Ulverston, the team at Henry Armer Fitness took on a mammoth food challenge. In a decidedly un-fit move, two staff members tried to wolf down 12,500 calories worth of food in a day, more than five times the recommended amount a person should eat.

There was even a selfie station at the Tesco in Hindpool retail park, Barrow, for shoppers to get in the spirit, and take a silly photo.

The BBC telethon saw appearances from the cast of sketch show Smack The Pony , who reunited for the first time since 2003.

There were special previews of Mrs Brown's new chat show and the second series of Peter Kay's sitcom Car Share .

Sir Lenny Henry, Graham Norton, Russell Brand, Emeli Sande, Romesh Ranganathan, Jonathan Ross and French & Saunders also put in appearances in an attempt to persuade BBC viewers to part with their cash.

For millions the highlight of the night was seeing Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson and Kiera Knightley reprise their roles from the 2003 film Love Actually , telling the story of their characters almost 15 years down the line.

Over the past 30 years Comic Relief has raised more than £1bn for charitable causes in the UK and across the world.