THERE were competitions covering everything from line dancing to women's tug-of-war, boys' cookery to one rather expansively called Dressing Up, but when it was all over and the points counted up, it was Herefordshire Young Farmers who ended up top dogs at the Three Counties Show.

Appropriately they were the host county this year and their county chairman, Gareth Watkins from Harewood End, near Ross-on-Wye, received the Lord Lieutenant Trophy from the show president, Audley Twiston-Davies.

About 700 young farmers from Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire had taken part in more than 40 different competitions spread over the three days of the show on its picturesque site in the shadow of the Malvern Hills at Blackmore, near Barnards Green.

Derek Carless, YFC section chairman, said: "We were very pleased with the new internal layout of the Young Farmers' marquee which held up well despite the very wet conditions.

"Herefordshire members were delighted to regain the Lord Lieutenant Trophy in the 50th year of the show on the site at Malvern.

"All the work on display was of a very high standard and members put on excellent displays on the stage of line dancing, aerobics, Stars in their Eyes and other entertainments."

After the first day's competitions it was neck-and-neck between the two federations of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, but the Herefordshire members gained a lot of points on the two subsequent days and finished a convincing 376 points ahead.

The West Midland Area ladies' tug-of-war trophy went to the Staffordshire Federation, which will now go forward to the national final at the Royal Show on Sunday, July 1.