THREE dads from Stourport mowed down the competition to win first place at a national 12-hour lawn mower race.

Despite falling into last place when their mower wouldn't start, Matt Cable, Carl Dimmock and Geoff Bishop managed to overtake 47 teams to claim the crown at the British Lawn Mower Racing Association's 12-hour contest in West Sussex on Saturday (August 3).

The trio, who make up Team Best Western, started racing together four years ago with the West Midland Lawnmower Racing Association and built their mower from scratch in Matthew's garden shed.

Geoff, aged 35, told The Shuttle: "Matt and I were working in a factory together so we started racing about six years ago and got the bug.

"About four years ago we met Carl at an event and we got really into it and have been best friends ever since."

As well as holding fundraisers at local pubs for the Midlands Air Ambulance, the group have taken part in several national races, placing first in a 24-hour lawn mower race in France for the second time earlier this year.

This is the first time the friends have won the British 12-hour contest, after last year being forced to retire four hours in when Carl fell off the mower and broke his ribs.

Geoff said: "The race is 0.9 miles long and runs from 8pm to 8am. We did just over 300 laps which is quite a big achievement.

"We actually qualified third out of 48, but then we couldn't get the lawn mower to start at the line. We went down to 48th position and were half a lap behind.

"But we managed to grit our teeth and get through as fast as we could. The pressure was off and we just stayed determined. We knew we could do it."

Team Best Western will next be taking part in a lawn mower race at the Live And Let Live pub in Whitbourne on Sunday, August 25.