SO FAIR – and fowl – a day on the River Rother saw 1,400 ducks take to the water in a race that sent everyone quackers.

In glorious sunshine on Saturday several hundred people turned out to take part in The Great River Rother Duck Race, with cash prizes to be won.

It made for quite a spectacle as the toy ducks, which were sold for £1, vied for position over the half a mile course, with participants cheering their racers on.

The event was a fixture on the village calendar for many years, and has been brought back by popular demand.

Children from Sheet Primary School lined the route with their families after seeing their ducks poured into the water at the start on the bridge by the Half Moon pub.

They finished up in Old Mill Lane, with the ducks taking around half an hour to complete the picturesque stretch of the river.

“About half the children from the school took part,” said chairman of the Friends of Sheet School (FOSS) Lucy Mitchell. “They were excited about it because it’s different to everything else that goes on.”

The £1,500 profit from the race is to be split between the school, the village church and Sheet Village Association.

The ducks were all numbered with cash prizes of £50, £40, £30, £20 and £10 for the first five.

The winners were Pepper Stockley, whose duck came first, Phil Taylor, Anna Styles, Chloe Toft-Madsen and Shereen Gatenby.

A barbecue and entertainment was enjoyed before the race on Sheet recreation ground.