England conker the French again

English sportsmen have completed a double over the French this weekend. Ady Hurrell, of Whittlesey, Cambs, took the World Conker Championship crown less than 24 hours after Les Bleus were dumped out of the Rugby World Cup.

He beat John Ingram, representing France, in the final of the 43rd championships in Ashton, Northants. Train driver Mr Hurrell, 36, needed just two shots to smash the conker of his competitor, a 54-year-old Dordogne antiques dealer. Mr Ingram later admitted he actually came from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, but had a lot of business in France.

Mr Hurrell said: "It was a great win last night and I hope the rugby boys go on to win the final just as I did."

Out of more than 300 entrants at the 43rd World Conker Championship, sponsored by the Institution of Health and Safety, 13 were listed as French. This was not enough to make a full rugby union side but they met the same fate against the English as their national side in Paris on Saturday night, a spokesman said.

The championship has so far raised almost a third of a million pounds for charities for the blind.

It was sponsored the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health which wanted people to see that its inspectors were not "killjoys".

The ladies champion was Tina Stone. The Intermediate Champion Nicolas Rothera and the Junior Winner was Philip Broomhead who triumphed for the second year in a row.