Pub teams battled it out for the honour of becoming world marble champions of the year.

Competition was fierce in the garden of the Greyhound pub in Crawley as the sun shone down on scores of players.

Teams from Germany forged into an early lead in the championships, which have been held in the pub since the Thirties.

A six-strong team of bar staff from the Greyhound cracked under the pressure of being hosts and were knocked out in the first round.

Mick Constable from the pub said: "This normally happens - I guess we need to put in a bit more practice.

"Mind you, on a hot day like this it's thirsty work so we need to get back behind the bar to serve people. Next year we might put in a bit more effort to save face!"