The 33rd St George’s Day 10k run in Corsham proved so popular that organisers had to turn away people on the day as there were not enough places.

Paralympic swimmer Stephanie Millward started the race at Corsham Football Club and winner Simon Nott, of Calne Running Club, broke the course record with 31 minutes and 12 seconds, beating his record last year of 31 minutes 45 seconds.

Race director Alex Fogwill said: “The main thing is the amazing number of people that applied for this. We had to turn people away because we exceeded the 1,100 numbers we had.

“It caught us by surprise, which was nice, but it did give us a few extra issues such as an increase in cars and not enough toilets.

“The atmosphere at the ground was great because there were so many people. Lots of people were waving flags and cheering and the six classic cars that went round the track this year added an extra touch.

“The 60-70 volunteers made it all possible and special thanks must go to our sponsors Hunter French estate agents.”

More than £6,000 was raised for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Motor Neurone Disease Association and the Corsham Foodbank.

Mr Fogwill said money was also donated to the Air Cadets, Sea Scouts, Corsham Windband, Corsham Football Club and Corsham Rugby Club.

Among the elite racers and fun-runners were 25 people from Goughs Solicitors and 130 from Corsham Primary School. One hundred of those were a mixture of pupils and parents running in the 2k race and 30 adults ran in the main 10k race, all wearing purple T-shirts.

Jane Clarke, PTA member and organiser, said: “I filled up when I saw a street of purple. It exceeded our wildest dreams.

"Our justgiving page raised £1,000 and, with the children’s paper sponsorships, we will have easily raised £3,000 for the PTA, which will go towards outdoor equipment.”

Mr Fogwill said: “It seems we are gaining in popularity year on year. We try to make it a good experience for runners and give away mementos and goody bags and people go away feeling happy.

“Next year we will limit the number of entrants to 1,200 and we will no longer accept entrance on the day so people will have to enter in advance.”