IT was a tough job but someone had to do it.

Liam O’Brien and Sallie Eades were faced with a plethora of pastry after agreeing to judge a mouth-watering contest at a Hampshire pub.

The two customers were given the appetising task of sampling all the entries in a pie-making competition at the Hyde Tavern in Winchester.

Almost 30 regulars arrived at the inn with tempting dishes of all shapes and sizes and placed them on two tables in the garden.

Armed with a pen and a small notebook, Liam and Sallie went from pie to pie as the assembled cooks watched nervously from the sidelines.

But the poker-faced judges were determined to give nothing away as they made their way along a seemingly never-ending line of pastry.

But which of the unusual fillings would the judges go for? Would it be beef vindaloo, apricot, chocolate and ginger – or hare, ham and blackberry jam?

Some observers thought a fish-shaped entry containing salmon with stem ginger and asparagus en croute deserved to win.

After more than half-an-hour of nail-biting tension it was time to announce the victor.

The champagne prize went to Teej Osborne, 51, of Winchester, whose pie contained hare, pigs trotters and a dash of his mum’s homemade jam.

Teej, a professional double bass player, said: “It’s the first time I’ve entered and I devised the recipe especially for the event.

“I’m really chuffed that my pie came first. I’ll definitely be back next year to defend my title.”

Pub manager Janet Theodore said the contest had gone from strength to strength since it was launched five years ago.

She added: “We had nine pies the first year and this year we had 27. Everyone looks forward to the competition and some people practice all year.”

After the contest the pies were sold for £2 a slice, with all the proceeds going to Crisis, a charity for the homeless.