By Phil Coleman

Last updated 10:06, Thursday, 06 November 2008

As competitors go, they were a little on the shy side at first but last night they finally came out of their shells...

Landlord Ian Hunter gets his snails in training at the Sour Nook Inn, Sebergham

The long hours of preparation finally paid off as a popular country pub near Dalston staged its first snail race night.

It was the slimy climax to a night of fundraising at the Sour Nook Inn.

Landlord Ian Hunter and his wife Fiona raised cash for a specialist children’s education unit in Penrith by staging a rather slow race night.

“We reckoned it might be a long night,” said Ian, who says the event has caused considerable excitement.

“We reckoned there may be one or two people staying for bed and breakfast.

“The rules are very strict: the most important is there should be no nobbling of competitors.

“People were allowed to bring their own snails but I’ve been collecting them for a couple of weeks now.

“There was a real whopper out at the back of the pub but I went out to get him one night without putting the light on and stood on him.

“That was a great shame, but managed to find plenty more.

“Customers who know about the race night have been bringing them in. Apparently the fastest ones are speckled garden snails.

“I’ve been training the ones I’ve caught, tempting them out with lettuce.

“They were shy at first, but they’ve come out of their shells these last few days.”

As you’d expect, the snail competitors were given many apt names, including Shelly, Dead Slow, Silver Streak and Crunchy.

Ian vowed to release all the snails back into the wild after the race night, which he hoped would raise up to £500 for the Huntely Avenue children’s unit, which offers respite care for children and young people with learning difficulties.

A local woman who is one of his regulars at the pub works there and he wanted to do something to help.