MORE than 200 people tickled their tastebuds at the hotly-contested Pickle Wars competition.

The annual event, held at the Woodvale, Gurnard, on Sunday, saw 35 entrants pickle their own onions in a bid to impress the judges.

Now in its 19th year, it raised £8,113 for the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF), with more donations still to come

Pickle champion Dean Clarke took home the gold, followed by Peter Cooke in second place and Paul Kelsey in third.

There were 92 raffle prizes and more than 20 auction lots, donated by businesses including All About Catering, T.M. Taylors and Sons, Quay Arts and Robin Hill.

The Isle of Wight Arsenal Supporters Club donated a shirt signed by the Arsenal first team.

Pickle Wars founder and organiser Terry Ashdown said: "It was absolutely brilliant. We weren't expecting anything like it — you couldn't move in the pub, it was so busy.

"People were very generous with their auction bids. We had the best set of bagpipes going, the twist being that they don't actually work, and we still got more than £100 for them."

Over the years, the event has raised almost £90,000 for the CLDF. The charity supported Terry's family after his grandson, Daniel, was diagnosed with a rare liver disease when he was just a baby.

Terry said: "Pickle Wars is our way of giving something back and it’s fantastic to get such support from the local community.”

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