27 hilarious pictures of huge crowds at Lancashire's famous World Gravy Wrestling Championships

The international event, which began in 2007, took place at the Rose ‘n Bowl pub in Stacksteads, with around 1,500 litres of gravy poured into the ring before contestants in fancy dress enter to do battle in two-minute bouts.

Andrew Holt, 63, is in charge of making the gravy, which is pumped into the ring after each fight. He makes the gravy in his black pudding factory, The Real Lancashire Black Pudding Company and said: "It was all made yesterday in my factory to the competition regulations. It is my grandma's recipe and takes a lot of preparation.

"We have to make three types so that we can ensure the consistency is the same for all competitors. This includes thin and slippy, thick and gooey, and extra thick. The gravy used during the event is a combination of all three, yet we top it up with some of each depending on what the viscosity changes too and what we think it needs.

"We transport it over in big barrels to the pub. We make around 1,500 litres which is enough to have on 15,000 Sunday roasts."

The final winners of the tournament will be decided by a panel of four experienced judges, who will focus on wrestling skills and fancy dress costumes. They also look out for who got the crowd going the most.

Pictures from the competition show the wrestlers jumping on top of each other, while they slowly get coated in gravy. The hilarious event started in 2007 and was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2019.

The pubs aims to raise money for East Lancashire Hospice, but the wrestlers can also raise funds for their own chosen charity. Take a look at the gallery of pictures below...