THE third annual Middlewich Skate Off competition saw youngsters roll into town from beyond Cheshire.

Organisers of the annual competition event were delighted to see competitors coming from as far as Stoke-on-Trent to compete in the Skate Off on Saturday, July 11.

The event drawn in crowds of around 200 people and organiser of the event Beverley Cope, from Middlewich Vision, said she was amazed with the talent on display this year.   

Beverley said: “What we are aiming to do next year is to make it bigger particularly in terms of getting a professional to come along.

“We had 42 entrees and around 200 people come along in total on the day. We even had one competitor coming from Stoke-on-Trent to take part because we’ve now got a reputation as a really fun competition.

“It’s a good, fun competition and gives the kids a chance to demonstrate their skills and I have to say they were very, very good.”

The event was first created in 2013 to celebrate the Booth Lane skate park after it was refurbished and now a group of youngsters named the OLLA group have taken responsibility of looking after the park.

Cllr Ken Kingston, mayor of Middlewich, said: “It helps when you have a facility like the skate park and at one stage that was a real eyesore but since it has been done up and the OLLA group have taken charge of it, it’s really kept tidy.”

“It was absolutely excellent, the kids are fearless, it’s quite frightening really.

“Anyone interested in anything skateboard, BMX or scooter were there and there were quite a lot of spectators too.

“I know that a lot of them came from Stoke-on-Trent so obviously after the previous two years of the competition, word is spreading and people are now coming from further afield.

“I judged it a couple of years back when it was the first one and since then it’s gone much more professional and some of the tricks that the kids were doing were incredible.