The going was a bit soft yesterday at Pitchcroft, but there was still plenty of action at the famous Worcester racecourse despite the floods that have left it lying under several feet of water.

The horses may not have shown up, but the conditions were perfect for ducks - albeit ones that were about four feet from bill to tail and had to be inflated before taking to the water.

Several of these specimens took part in a wacky race organised as an appropriate watery replacement for yesterday's scheduled meeting.

For once, it wasn't the bookies who benefited from the proceedings, but the charitable organisations who would have been rattling their collecting buckets if the original meeting had gone ahead.

These charities benefited to the tune of £100 as a result of the event, which was organised by the betting community itself.

We say good for the bookmakers. They will have suffered themselves from the cancellation of the meeting, yet they spent time and effort making sure that good causes didn't lose out.

We also thank those who turned up and dug deep to help people less fortunate than themselves.

Yesterday was a fine example of British generosity, but more than that it was an object lesson in our genius for making the best of a bad situation - and using any opportunity to have a bit of fun.

Others might have descended into despair over the recent weather-borne chaos, but the people of Worcestershire didn't let it get them down. Instead, they organised a race of giant inflatable ducks.

And that's just how it should be.