Exciting changes are being made to this year's Hal-an-Tow on Flora Day that should see it returned even closer to its origins.

For the first time possibly in more than century, it is intended that an "advance party" of Green Men will visit a number of houses and shops in each area where the pageant is performed, to brandish greenery and chase out the devil and the darkness of winter - although full details of exactly where may not be revealed until the day.

It is understood that there will also be a "mock mayor" election this year - a tradition already seen in other parts the country, whereby someone from the community is "elected" for the day.

This year also marks the retirement of Hal-an-Tow crier Howard Curnow, after 40 years in the role, having himself taken over from Richard Jenkin, the founder of the Mebyon Kernow Cornish political party.

He has handed over the bell to Jack Morrison, who has been part of the pageant for many years and has now been promoted to one its biggest roles.

It is the job of the crier to gather the crowds to watch, before announcing the proceedings, with the ringing of his bell an audible notice of the approaching procession as it moves through the town.

At a meeting in the CAST building on Friday evening, Mr Curnow handed over the bell to Jack, having had it engraved in Cornish "Krier Hal an Tow Hellys," which translates to Helston Hal an Tow Crier.

Mr Curnow said he would not be in Helston on Flora Day this year, instead attending a concert up country in which his grandson is performing, in order to give Jack the best possible chance to make it his own.

He actually wrote much of the crier's speech that is heard today and Jack is free to make adaptations of his own if he wishes.

Mr Curnow welcomed the evolving nature of the Hal-an-Tow, with these additions something he has been championing for many years, and said: "Long may the chaos continue. It is meant to be ad lib and spontaneous."

On Friday he was presented with a replica of the crier bell as a mark of his long service to the Hal an Tow, by Andrew George who plays St Piran - a role that has itself evolved in recent years, as a relatively new addition to the story.

The Hal-an-Tow actually long precedes the dancing on Flora Day, although it was actually stopped in the late 1800s by a religious body of protestors in the town who complained about its pagan influences and references to the devil. It was resurrected again in the 1920s by Helston Old Cornwall Society and has been slowly built up to what it is today, with up to 200 participants.