Shrewsbury Dragon Boat Festival raises £40,000

About 1,000 people tuned out to watch the annual Dragon Boat Festival at the Pengwern Boat Club in Shrewsbury which raised about £40,000 in aid of Severn Hospice.

The festival saw 660 people from across the county race 40ft dragon boats on the River Severn yesterday and event organiser Sarah Hawthorne said it was a wonderful day.

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She said: "We were really lucky with the weather, there were just a few showers. We have a company that monitors river levels for us and everything was OK."

A team of Popeye the sailor men won the race and others included a team of naked chefs dressed in aprons, student nurses and pirates.