WORLD Cup football will take a back seat as hundreds of oarsmen and women make a splash at a rowing festival this weekend.

The 168th Durham Regatta, known as The Henley of the North, has attracted a near-record of 560 entries, despite the counter-attraction of events in Japan and Korea.

Such is the entry that the starting gun will be fired every two minutes from 8.30am to 6pm, today and tomorrow, to complete the regatta programme on the River Wear.

Regatta secretary Malcolm Proud said: "We'll be stretched to the limits, but we should just about fit in all the scheduled races. It means there'll be no shortage of action for spectators coming down over the weekend."

The blue riband will be the Grand Challenge Cup, with a £1,000 prize pot guaranteeing a high standard of entries of men's fours crews, while the J15 and J16 single sculls will be highly competitive having been granted the Northern Junior Championship title.

There will be a classic car rally on the adjoining Racecourse, with a selection of refreshment tents, including a strawberry and Pimms.

Admission to the riverbanks is £2 for adults and £1 for children and concessions