Pig racing event in Bishopstone village attracts hundreds of spectators

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

The village pub, Helen Browning’s The Royal Oak, in Bishopstone, organized the event on Sunday and has been running the show since 2012.

Event organizer and pub owner Tim Finney said: “It grew from a small idea on a blackboard to what we have today, seven or eight hundred people.”

Attracting people from as far afield as Canada, the day has been described as “iconic British”.

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