The Midland Indoor Carpet Championships (MICC) brought some of the best professional competitors from across the UK to Telford Tennis Centre in Wrockwardine Wood to take part in stage one of the new competition.

Stretching into 2020 over five separate rounds, the championship’s first event on Sunday featured experienced teams of engineers with Formula 1-style workstations tending to intricate models throughout the day, before they raced on specially-laid carpet imported from Denmark.

WATCH footage of the championships here:

There were 135 cars capable of reaching speeds of up to 60mph, and thousands of pounds worth of equipment on show.

Collisions, although not as devastating as their real life-sized counterparts, were just as exciting as competitors put their hand-eye coordination and reactions to the test against the clock before competing against other drivers in a final heat.

Gareth Hollins, event organiser, said Telford was chosen due to its central location.

He said: “There are tracks like this all over the UK, but there’s nothing central throughout the winter, hence why I brought this here.

“All the other winter racing for cars of this type is all down south and our main competitors are competitions in Essex and London, so there’s nothing north at all.

“When we were scouting a location we realised Telford would be the perfect place for a central hub as it’s about two hours for southerners to come up and northerners to come down.”

Jamie McLintock, of Telford Tennis Centre, said the event had brought great publicity to the venue.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with Gareth and his team to organise this and, touch wood, it’s all gone smoothly,” he said.

“It benefits everybody involved as it brings in vital funds for us at the centre,” Mr McLintock added.

“It also benefits the local community and fills up the hotels in the area and brings customers to other local businesses.”