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Hundreds turn out for village pig racing event

Listen to Bishopstone's International Pig Racing on BBC Sounds

Hundreds of spectators lined the streets of a Wiltshire village to watch the likes of Lester Piglet, Spongehog Porkpants and Piggy Stardust take on an annual pig racing event.

The village pub, Helen Browning's The Royal Oak, in Bishopstone, held the event on Sunday, and has been running the spectacle since 2012.

Event organiser and pub landlord, Tim Finney, said: "It's grown from being a little idea on a blackboard to what we have today, seven or eight hundred people."

Attracting people from as far away as Canada, the day was described as "Britishly iconic".

Each year the event raises between £1,200 and £1,800 for the Prospect Hospice, Swindon and North Wiltshire Deaf Children's Society and the parish newsletter.

Four pigs side by side sniffing and walking down Cue's Lane in Bishopstone
Lester Piglet, Spongehog Porkpants and Piggy Stardust were amongst this year's competitors

The 12-week old pigs owned by Helen Browning's farm are prepared for the big day in advance.

A mock course of about 150m was set-up on the farm to get them used to the event.

The first time they completed the route it took about 30 minutes, within five days they completed it in 90 seconds - motivated by the organic bananas and avocado waiting for them at the finish line.

Mr Finney said the pigs are "smart animals and they are completely unfazed".

Tim Finney speaking into a microphone as he commentates on the four races
Tim Finney is the event organiser and landlord at Helen Browning's The Royal Oak

The 10 competing pigs are bought for the day at a cost of £50, with owners creating their pigs race name and colours.

Spectators can also bet on the pigs at the make-shift bookkeepers "Piggy Power".

Mr Finney said: "It's a great day for the pub, I can't deny that.

"But it's also very handy to raise money for great local causes."

Pigs with their snouts to the floor eating vegetables strewn across the floor
The pigs are given fruit and vegetables as an incentive along the route and at the finish line, their favourite bananas

A bucket of bananas and vegetables are used to encourage the pigs to trot along the course, although spectators anticipating the Usain Bolt of the pig world may have been disappointed.

Mother and son, Rachel Huntley and Zac Lewis, from Wanborough, said they love "quirky village events" describing it as "bizarre but really lovely to see".

Mr Lewis was at the event for the first time and said he was "surprised" how slow the pigs were.

Mother and son, Rachel Huntley and Zac Lewis, smiling, both wearing sunglasses
Rachel Huntley and Zac Lewis from Wanborough joined hundreds of others in attendance

Mr Finney said they travelled at "less than half a mile an hour and a couple of them were going backwards".

They complete four races across a two hour period, before live music continues the entertainment.

Harmony Jagla standing in the centre of Tess Buckley and Ruth Corfield with her arms around them, all three smiling
Tess Buckley (left) and Harmony Jagla (centre) from Toronto, Canada, attended the event with friend Ruth Corfield (right) from Sparsholt

Tess Buckley and Harmony Jagla, from Canada, were also at the event for the first time, and said they were "really excited" adding they had "never experienced anything like it before".

They described the day of Pimms and pig racing as Britishly "iconic".

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