Thousands throw tonnes of tomatoes at each other in the annual Tomatina Festival

Thousands of T-shirts in Colombia have been ruined once again.

The country's yearly Tomatina Festival, where thousands hurl millions of overripe tomatoes at each other, has just taken place and it was just as messy as ever, as these astonishing pictures show.

An estimated 20,000 people descended on the town of Sutamarchan, in the state of Boyaca, to take part in this, the 10th tomato-throwing festival.

Every spring locals are joined by tourists from far and wide to throw spoiled fruit at one another in a region that is known to have the highest amount of tomato production in all of Latin America.

The three-day celebration is centred entirely around tomatoes, with many people participating in tomato-eating contests and even a race to locate the largest of the fruit.

The celebration, which is inspired by another festival of the same name near Valencia in Spain, takes place 75 miles northeast of Bogota. In 2014 an estimated 125 tonnes of tomatoes were hurled through the streets.

The country's yearly Tomatina Festival, where thousands hurl overripe tomatoes at each other, has just taken place and it was just as messy as ever

A man is pictured emptying crates of overripe tomatoes on to a pile in the town before the festival begins