OYEZ! Oyez! Banbury rang out with the sound of 2014 town criers’ championships on Saturday.

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And the annual event got a bit of celebrity stardust when famous actors Timothy West, above, and Prunella Scales, below, dropped in.

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The couple, who have been married since 1963, were filming a new series of their Channel 4 TV show Great Canal Journeys and happened to be in Banbury at the time, so producers arranged for them to join in the fun.

A total of 15 town criers took part in the annual Loyal Company of Town Criers British Championships in the town centre.

They were judged on categories such as diction, volume and bearing.

It was organised by Anthony Church, of Barns Road in Cowley, who is town crier for Banbury and Oxford. He said: “It was a fantastic day. A lot of members of the public stayed around to watch and we were joined by Timothy West and Prunella Scales which was good.”

Ms Scales, 82, best-known for her role as Basil Fawlty’s wife Sybil in the classic comedy Fawlty Towers, revealed earlier this year that she is suffering from “a sort of mild Alzheimer’s.”

The competition was won by John Stevens, the town crier for Alnwick in Northumberland.

He said: “I have never ever won the Loyal Company of Town Criers British championship. That is, until on Saturday at Banbury. I was astounded, amazed and totally chuffed to bits.

“The very first competition I ever entered was in Halifax in 2003 where I incredibly came fourth. After that it was all down hill for me and the British.”

The Loyal Company of Town Criers was established in 1993 as a group to promote and represent town criers across the country.

In the MiddleAges a town crier used to be an officer of the court who would make any public announcements which were required. The need has since disappeared but councils can still make honorary appointments to the role and there are now more than 100 that do so.

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