ONLY the Sunday Club, a group of dales farmers with a wicked sense of humour, could come up with the idea of holding a chocolate cake competition in the midst of recent snowstorms.

The club, which has become notable for staging such events as pork pie and hay-sniffing contests, managed to pack the Cross Keys at Eastgate, in Weardale, for the best-decorated cake contest, attracting 14 entries.

And it proved a difficult task for judge Margaret Gibbons, a home economics teacher, who admitted although it was the "best looker", the winning cake was not quite as tasty as one further down the pecking order.

Frosterley farmer Alistair Ward, who confessed to having more than a little help from his wife, Gillian, and her sister, Caroline, picked up the first prize.

Mr Ward, a previous winner of the Sunday Club's pork pie contest, attributed his chocolate cake success to a secret recipe involving fresh free-range Weardale eggs.

"It's events like this which demonstrate that the social life of the dale has never been better," said Mr Ward. "It also shows that, despite foot-and-mouth, we have maintained our sense of humour."

After the prizes were handed out, Eastgate farmer Herbert Hutchinson, who was last year's contest winner, auctioned off the cakes, raising about £170 for the two churches in the village.