EVERYONE went flat out – in more ways than one.

Dozens of competitors celebrated Shrove Tuesday by battling it out in a series of pancake races at Beaulieu in the New Forest.

The participants braved wind and rain to take part in the annual spectacle – one of the highlight’s of Beaulieu’s social calendar.

Children from Beaulieu Primary School were joined by staff from the Montagu Arms, members of the Beaulieu-based Countryside Education Trust and personnel from the village’s fire station.

The Beaulieu Estate and the Friends of Beaulieu School also took part in the 50-minute event.

It was started by Lady Montagu, who was greeted by cheers and applause as she arrived and grabbed one end of the finishing line – a red and white tape stretched across the High Street.

She told the crowd: “We come here every Shrove Tuesday whatever the weather. Last year it was snowing. This year it’s a bit better – so far.”

The first children’s race was held up while pupils waited for the pancakes to arrive – but the brief delay was followed by almost an hour of non-stop action.

Many of the participants dropped their pancakes but most ran back and retrieved them before completing the race.

Others simply carried on but spectators including the Rector of Beaulieu, the Rev John Cooper-White, picked up fallen pancakes and returned them to their rightful owner.

The afternoon ended with a contest to find Beaulieu’s best pancake tosser.

The winner was Beaulieu Estate worker Steve Gostt, 49, who was presented with a gold-coloured frying pan after achieving a score of 74.