Ear splitting cries pierced the air in Melksham at the weekend as the Town Crier Championships were held in the town for the first time.

Competitors from local towns including Warminster, Trowbridge and Westbury, as fell as further afield from Swindon, Wales, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall attended the event in Market Place on Saturday, which was hosted by Melksham town crier Peter Dauncey.

“It went extremely well, very well indeed,” Mr Dauncey said.

“We are now hopefully looking forward to a repeat of the event next year.

“It was a very high standard of competitors this year and without naming names we had a past world champion, a past European champion and a past guild champion.”

The overall competition was won by Peder Neilsen of Bromyard, Herefordshire, who also walked away with the title of Best Dressed Crier.

“Peder has only been crying for two years,” Mr Dauncey said.

“He took over from me when I moved from Bromyard. He was well trained you see; that’s what it was.

“He did exceedingly well on the day. It was brilliant.

“What the event is about is promoting Melksham and developing the image of the town all the time.”

Warminster’s town crier Phil Seddon picked up the Wiltshire Cup, sponsored by the Wessex Association of Chambers of Commerce.

He said: “It went very well. I came out with the Wiltshire Cup and a huge basket of fruit.

“It was a very good day, very enjoyable.

“We had a forecast of heavy rain but we didn’t get any, so that was good.

“It was nice going to Melksham. It is a friendly, laid-back place and we were treated to lunch.”

Melksham Air Cadets received praise from all of the criers for the hard work they put in as car park attendants, putting up the marquee and acting as runners for the judges.