Pram chaos as Sussex town kicks off kooky Boxing Day tradition

Decorated prams are causing chaos in Pagham today as the town kicks off it's iconic annual pram race.

Competitors will tackle a three mile route around the town, in the world's oldest event of it's kind.

The tradition began in 1946 to raise money for medical treatments for soldiers returning from war.

It would see one participant pushing the pram - while another sits as the 'baby' in it - drinking a pint each at all the village's pubs.

Now, it raises money for local causes.

Organiser Andrew Goodwill says the day is about "not what you expect to see, but what you don't expect to see, because that's what you will see":

"We've had Roman soldiers marching round Pagham.

"Anything that's topical, they think 'oh, let's just do a pram for that'."

The course starts at the mill on Pagham Road and stops The Bear, The Lamb and Maria’s Cafe, before finishing at The Bear car park.

This year, it'll be hosting racing driver Derek Bell as a special guest, a Pagham local who's won the Le Mans 24 hours 4 times.

"The pram race has now become a rite of passage for people living locally in the area," Andrew explained.

"When you get to 18, it's not the keys to the door -you take part in the pram race." Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.