A PUB is staging the slowest event in the racing calendar.
O'Neill's Irish pub, in Claypath, Durham, is holding the first Durham Snail Racing Championships tomorrow.
The event is based on the racing snails Guinness TV advert, which ends with the winning mollusc drinking from a pint glass.
The owners of the winning snails tomorrow night will get free pints of Guinness.
Pub spokesman Philip Parrish said: "We have talked it over with health and safety and there are no real issues. We will keep it well away from the bar."
But a spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said: "Snails are best left in their natural environment.
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