HEREFORDSHIRE’S answer to Monte Carlo brought the usual thrills and spills at the weekend with its traditional race around Kington’s town centre.

Instead of engine power, Kington’s annual superspeed ‘pub crawl’ once again delighted large crowds lining the streets with a succession of wild and whacky wheelbarrows.

The sight of Kim Jong-un in his black Mao suit hurting down High Street with Donald Trump in blue suit and red tie was almost excitement enough, but there was much, much more.

This was Kington at its entertaining best, a long-established race unique to the town and a highlight of Kington Festival. With the town centre closed to traffic, onlookers waited patiently behind the barriers to watch the speeding – unmotorised - barrows at full stretch.

Then it the turn of the highly decorated wheelbarrows in colourful and arresting styles.

At times political, the wheelbarrows frequently take a gentle dig at local business, but it’s all part of the fun.

Those used to the event might have been surprised – though not shocked – to see a clever representation of the local Burton Hotel’s lost porch steaming down the street atop a set of wheels. The Victorian pillared portico, recently demolished in a lorry accident, has been a talking point in town, and local wits lost no time in entering an impressive ‘wheelbarrow’ representing its demise.

Elsewhere, the crowds applauded a pair of Smurfs racing past painted vivid blue, there were the Flintstones, Peaky Blinders, Homer Simpson and Marge with her skyscraper blue wig, even a ‘royal’ wedding group, the bride running full tilt – not so regally – and dragging her long train down the street.

At each public house along the way, competitors brought their barrows to a grinding halt with only seconds to guzzle their half-pint of ale before dashing to the next stop. Kington wheelbarrow race is not for the faint-hearted: competitors are expected to keep up a rattling pace and consume the beer against the clock. In the early days, the expectation was to down a full pint at each pub, but the rules were eventually eased.

The list included a stop at the Royal Oak, the Swan, Number 36 Wine Bar, the Oxford, the Golf Club (a bar outside Vaughan Court), the Tavern, Football Club (outside Kington Court), the Queens Head, Wine Vaults and finally the Burton. Without its main porch, the hotel served beer from the Cloud Nine car park.

*This Saturday, June 23, Kington Festival pays homage to its late, great star, Michael East – ‘Wizard’ – with Wizfest, a music event at Kington Cricket Club from 4pm – midnight.