Frankie Hooper, 28, wins World Conker Championships in Northamptonshire

The World Conker Championships, an annual contest of a traditional English game in which players try to smash an opponent's conker threaded on a string, were held on Sunday in Southwick, a village in Northamptonshire, central England. More than 250 competitors took part, including entrants from Japan, the Netherlands and Germany.

Players take turns, with up to three strikes each at their opponent's conker. The contest was staged outside the Shuckburgh Arms pub.

Hooper takes the title

Frankie Hooper, 28, from Oundle, won the overall event. In the final she defeated the men's winner, Simon Griffiths, 35, from Stamford. Hooper is now known as Queen Conker, while Griffiths is the new King Conker.

Hooper said she felt "pretty ecstatic". She said she had gone along that morning expecting a relaxed, fun day with friends. Griffiths joked that his wife would never let him forget it and that he might change his name.

Costumes and other entrants

Some entrants wore fancy dress. Gary Ward from Milton Keynes, dressed as a tree, was knocked out in the first round by an opponent dressed as a sheep. Partners Amy Smart and Will Fern, both in chicken costumes, were drawn against each other in the second round, and Smart won. Fern had beaten her in the first round last year.

Broadcaster Mark Pougatch and politician Penny Mordaunt also competed, and were drawn against each other. Nana Hirayama, originally from Japan and living in Leamington Spa, was taking part for the 12th time.

Past championships were hit by allegations of cheating, after reports that a metal conker had been swapped for a real one. No such controversy emerged this year. A tongue-in-cheek steel conker detector, introduced last year, was used again.