CENTURIONS, The Flintstones, a corpse bride and many more wild and wonderful characters descended on Bampton for an evening of madness.

The 65th Bampton Shirt Race, a quirky event which sees teams of two darting through the streets while pushing each other in prams and necking beer at stops along the way, was held on Saturday night.

Hundreds of people lined the roads for this year’s spectacle, with race coordinator Don Rouse saying the chaotic shirt race just keeps on getting better.

He said: “It’s uniquely Bampton. It’s quirky. And all the people come out just looking for a bit of fun.

“The race just gets better every year. I’ve seen Flintstones, I’ve seen centurions, but I’ve never seen a corpse in a coffin - so I do still get things that surprise me.

“You don’t have to be mad to live in Bampton but it doesn’t half help.”

Groups of people in an array of fancy dress started assembling in the centre of the village at around 6.30pm.

Judges marked the competitors’ costumes before the wacky races kicked off with the youngsters going first. The junior category (up to 11) and a new intermediate category (between 12 and 17) drank squash along the route in place of beer.

Dad of two Owen McCole had come out with his two friends as the Flintstones - Fred, Wilma and Barney.

He said: “We’ve been doing it with the kids for a few years and thought this time round we’d do it with them - even though we’re probably a bit more childish.”

Elsewhere were a group of Roman soldiers complete with chariot.

James Bray, 44, of Oxford, said: “We’re regulars, and come as something different every year. It’s tradition, it’s fun, there’s free beer, and the race is complete chaos.”

The event, thought to date back centuries, was revived to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

It raises funds for the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Junketing (Spajers), a charity which organises the event and collects for the village’s elderly residents.

Another group out on Saturday night came as the Adam’s Family, complete with coffin and corpse bride.

Nigel Johnson, of Clanfield, speaking on the night, said: “I didn’t know there were this many people in Bampton. The race is chaos - but luckily we’ve got a coffin in case anything goes wrong.”

The winners of the junior race were Edgar Easterbrook and Sam Warwick. Matthew Waite and Ben Wannell won in the intermediate category while David and Ben Church won the senior race.