BANK holiday revellers celebrated a belated St George's Day in Pinner with a wheelbarrow pub crawl, live music and dance yesterday.

The village High Street was closed to traffic for the annual event to mark the day, which was celebrated across the country on Saturday.

The annual celebrations are a highlight of the Pinner calendar, and featured the traditional wheelbarrow race when 21 teams of two sprinted through the streets downing half pints of ale at six designated stops.

The event also included performances by morris dancers throughout the day and a farmer's market in the car park of the Queen's Head pub.

The winners of this year’s wheelbarrow race were Ben Whelan, 26, from Ruislip, and Tom Yarrow, 24, from Pinner.

Mr Whelan said: “We didn’t time ourselves but we won it by a minute or two from the next team. This is the second year in a row we have won.

“I have to say we didn’t really train for it. I do kick-boxing as a hobby and we have obviously been down the pub.

“We had a bit of a laugh with it all and got the morphsuits, which I guess made us a little more aerodynamic.

“The hardest part of the race is drinking and breathing at the same time while running to get into the wheelbarrow.

“I think the celebrations in Pinner are great as a lot of the time people forget about it.

"A lot of people celebrate St Patrick’s Day but the celebrations with the morris dancers and of the course the wheelbarrow race make the day a really good one.”

Organiser Gordon Williams said: “It was an absolutely magnificent event and everyone who took part in the wheelbarrow race should be proud of themselves.

“As we are the host nation for the 2012 Olympics we get to choose a sport to include in the games and I think we will put wheelbarrow racing forward to Lord Coe.

“I was thrilled to get the police cadets this year who marched behind the mayor, Councillor Asad Omar’s, car and the Pinner Association I believe raised £230 for West House.

“It’s a community event, which is the most important thing to emphasise. There was a great turnout and this was obviously helped by the sunshine.

“I would like to thank the councillors, council officers and the police, most of who were specials who weren’t paid for the day, for their help. Another great year for the event in Pinner.”