WORM charmer Hope Smith is celebrating success at her sixth World Worm Charming Championship.

Hope, a year five pupil at Willaston Primary Academy, won the Championship Trophy for Most Worms at the championship, which was held in the school grounds.

She won with 272 worms, with her sister Sophie having won in 2009 with a world record of 567 worms.

Second place went to the Whiting family with 234 worms, and third place went to last year’s winners The Caravan Club with 230 worms.

The championship started at 2pm following an inspection of the plots by the International Federation of Charming Worms and Allied Pastimes (IFCWAP).

Participants in each of the 144 plots had 30 minutes to collect as many worms as possible from their three by three-metre plot.

There were 'traditional' plots for two adults and two children and 'tag-team' plots for teams who wished to change their pairings throughout the charming period.

Techniques included vibrating a garden fork, whacking a tennis racquet and jumping up and down, and musical accompaniments included a saxophonist, a guitarist, a tambourine player and a drummer.

A World Worm Charming Championship certificate was awarded to official groundsman Winston Higham from Stoke-on-Trent.

The Chief Wormer's trophy was won by Mrs West for 31 years of worming. She has been a teacher at Willaston Primary Academy for the same period.

Most Promising Newcomer Award was won by the Fischer family, originally from Germany, with an impressive debut of 136 worms, and the Heaviest Worm trophy was won by Luke and Ashton with 4.79 grams.

The championship included representatives from Holland, the Philippines, and India, and event organiser Mike Forster thanked the volunteers and visitors for their continued support.

Events in the playground and arena included singing from The Funky Choir and Willaston Primary Academy Junior Choir, dancing by the X Academy of Performing Arts and a performance from Cheshire Gymnastics.

The arena and adjacent areas were surrounded by charity stalls, an inflatable slide and food and drink outlets.

Charities represented included Cystic Fibrosis, Willaston Neighbourhood Plan, Cancer Research UK, Crewe and South Cheshire Voluntary Group of Diabetes UK, Keep Britain Tidy (Recycle Now) and Willaston Primary Academy.

The main sponsor was UHY Hacker Young chartered accountants, and the event was enjoyed by several hundred people.

Words and pictures by Jonathan White