OTLEY'S Bellman has added another trophy to his collection.

Terry Ford, who won the National Town Crier contest for the town last year, has emerged victorious in the Middlewich Town Crier Competition.

The event took place on the day of the Royal Wedding - Saturday, May 19 - so the theme for the participants' cries was The Perfect Match.

Unusually, the contest ended in a draw and a 'cry-off' was called, between Mr Ford and Sandwell Town Crier Adrian Holmes, to decide the matter.

The Otley man said: "We chose to use the Host Crier, Devlin Hobson's, cry and I lost the toss and had to make the first proclamation - a risky business as there is no time to properly read through before proclaiming it.

"I completed the cry and realised that I had missed out a line of text so I was convinced I had lost, but my opponent then read the proclamation and missed out the same line as I.

"In the event I won by 0.2 of a point - last year, in the same competition, Mr Holmes beat me by 0.1 of a point!"

Mr Ford has now won two competitions this year, having triumphed in the Nelson, Lancashire Competition in March.

He also achieved third place in the Loyal Company of Town Criers British Championships in Ely on May 5.