Chicken sculpture scoops 'Turnip Prize'

A raw chicken stuffed with leaves has won this year's 'Turnip Prize' for bad art.

The award, an alternative to the controversial Turner Prize, is presented by the residents of a Somerset village.

Regulars at pubs in Wedmore, near Cheddar, vote on a series of 'rubbish artworks' created by members of the public rather than internationally renowned sculptors and painters.

According to the rules, there are no barriers to entry into the competition, they simply state: "You can enter anything you like, but it must be rubbish."

Winner James Timms receives a specially made trophy - a real turnip impaled on a rusty six-inch nail - for his composition 'Take a Leaf out of my Chook'.

Competing alongside Mr Timms' entry were: 'Bitter and Twisted' - a piece of grapefruit peel; 'Jonny Wilkinson' - a condom and a razor blade' and 'What a Waste' - a sculpture of plumbing pipe.

Organiser Trevor Prideaux said the award ceremony took place in a packed New Inn at Wedmore and it had been "a lot of fun".