Intro:

The slowest new world champion was crowned on Saturday (19th July), as Wells out-paced all his opposition at the Snail Racing World Championship in England.

Script:

Aintree in Liverpool has the Grand National and Epsom in Surrey has the Derby, but Norfolk village of Congham is home to the slowest of sports, the Snail Racing World Championship.

The gastropod games have been an established part of life in this sleepy corner of England for over 30 years.

It was here that a snail called Archie slid his way into the Guinness Book of Records in 1995.

He completed the 13-inch course in a far from sluggish two minutes and 20 seconds.

The rules at the World Snail Racing Championship are simple: the snails are placed in the small red circle in the middle of a round table, with the first to slime its way to the outer red ring crowned world champion.

150 snails were entered for this year's championship with a number of heats needed to whittle the slimiest stars down to the serious speedsters.

Each heat and the final race was conducted on a specially embroidered table cloth, which is regularly dowsed with water to facilitate conditions.

This year's winner, Wells, crossed the critical outer red ring in three minutes 19 seconds.

The trophy was stuffed with leaves and Wells was placed gently on top as both he, and owner five-year-old Zeben Butler Alldred, were proclaimed as the 2014 world champions.