Cabbage hurling success 'amazing' says man behind the event

The man behind the world's first cabbage hurling championships says he has been amazed by its popularity.

The vegetables are launched from a catapult-like machine based on trebuchets - weapons used to fling projectiles.

John Ward, from Lincolnshire, said it "took the world by surprise" at Holbeach Town and Country Fayre last summer.

The contest will return alongside "onion wanging" this year, he said.

John Ward was taken aback by the success of cabbage throwing

'Typically English'

Mr Ward said: "It went a little bit hysterical over the weekend [in 2013].

"We thought [cabbage hurling] would be a 20-minute filler, but every man and his lobster adopted it and stuck it on their website. Everyone seems to be for it.

"It's so quirky, so typically English."

Mr Ward said he did interviews about the sport on radio stations across the world.

He came up with the idea to help promote the vegetables, that are typically grown in Lincolnshire where the fertile soil is ideal for brassica crops.

However, he had to modify his trebuchet design to make them less "lethal".

Holbeach Town and Country Fayre is set to be held on Saturday and Sunday, in King's Field, Holbeach.

The cabbage hurlers are based on trebuchets