There was some fierce competition when a village school went conker crazy last Saturday – especially when the dads got involved.

For the past 24 years youngsters at Seagry primary school have gathered in the beautiful gardens of a house appropriately named The Chestnuts for the annual conker knock about.

They collected their “cheggies and cheesers” in the spacious Upper Seagry garden belonging to Tony Kay and elsewhere in the village in the days before the contest.

School admin officer Jen Howell said: “There were competitions for each school year group, for older siblings and past pupils and also for mums and dads.

“The battles were keenly fought and won. As can be expected, the gentler and more polite games were played by the children and the mums, whereas the dads’ remit seemed to be to destroy their opponents’ conkers until all that was left was the string. Apparently this was very satisfying for them.”

The winners of each of the nine contests were presented with a medal and certificate and the runners-up with a certificate. The Seagry Conker Championships have been an annual tradition ever since pupils were invited to The Chestnuts in 1990.

The event has only been cancelled once since then, by bad weather.