Hundreds turned out to watch the region's strongest men push themselves to the limit in the South East England's Strongest Man competition.

Competitors battled it out in two categories - open and novice - tackling five different challenges in front of crowds in Gravesend town centre on Sunday.

Events included the the "Viking press", in which the competitors push a contraption upwards from the shoulders; the "silver dollar deadlift", which is an elevated deadlift originating from lifting boxes of silver dollars; the "farmers walk", in which competitors carry weights in both hands over a distance; the super yoke, which involved carrying weights over the shoulders using a frame or 'yoke'; and the barrel-walk, which involved carrying barrels over a distance.

Martin Cee from event organisers Strongman Galaxy said it was the fifth year the event had been held, and the competition was attracting increasing numbers.

"There was more than 1000 people through the day and at one point we had about 600 people," he said. "It's an event which has become really popular - they were four or five deep at the barrier at some points - all the viewing spots were taken up.

"It was magic, and we had the weather as well.

"The idea is to win fans - it's a free event for people in Gravesend and we put it on as a showcase for our sport."

He said 21 novices took part including 17-year-old Jack Willard.

"He did really well," added Martin, who ran the event with Sarah LP. "He came up to me afterwards and said he'd had a fantastic day. We want them to grow into the sport.

"There's a lot of banter and a lot of fun. It's more like the circus is in town - it's a serious sport and competition but there's a lot of fun."

The open category was won by Anthony Eastwood, in his first event since stepping up from novice level; while the novice category was won by Scott Saward.

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