Some people crushed their tomatoes before they threw them to minimize the pain they might cause when they hit their targets.

Although many of the participants just wore bathing suits for the melee, some fashioned improvised raincoats out of trash bags, or sported various costumes and shower caps.

At the firing of a second rocket at noon the 2009 Tomatina finally came to an end and the sauce-coated participants headed for the river and the public showers set up by the municipality to help people clean the remains of thousands of tomatoes from their bodies, hair and clothing.

About half an hour later, local residents and municipal workers began using hoses to start cleaning the streets, which - incredibly, in just a matter of minutes - were spic and span, showing no signs of the recent tomato tussle.

More than 40 police personnel, 70 members of the civil protection service, nine ambulances and assorted first aid stations were positioned along the street where the battle took place.

Municipal officials reported at the close of the Tomatina that there had been no serious incidents, although some people had received first aid for bruises, small lacerations, overheating or hypothermia.

Thus ended another edition of the 'most enjoyable fiesta in the world', in the words of Bunol Mayor Fernando Giraldos, a celebration that decades ago began as a friendly battle among neighbours.