A VERY special milestone has been passed by fundraisers with a love of speed.

The Richards Castle soap box derby has passed the £100,000 mark with funds it has raised for local charities and good causes.

The annual event has been running since 2004.

The 2017 event at Hanway Common saw more soap box carts, more spectators and more money being raised.

It is looking like the most successful to date, raising more than £15,000.

This year, the main three charities to receive donations will be CLD Trust – Strong Young Minds, Ludlow Foyer and Smile – Ludlow Maternity.

With a course length of 550m and vertical drop of 50m, spectators saw some cracking soap box drama as the sun shone down.

Some built for speed and some built for fun, the soap boxes raced down the hill with one or two mishaps!

Unbeaten on this course, reigning champion C12 from Chippenham claimed the top spot for the fastest cart with a time of 38.856, narrowly missing his course record of 38.343. The Best novelty cart went to “Wallace and Gromit Family Outing” and most innovative design to “Whose bright idea was this” with its inventive steering design. The most sponsorship raised award went to team WOW Racing of Ludlow; they raised an amazing £1,200.

“I would like to pass on my tremendous thanks to everyone who supported this year's soap box derby, to all the competitors, spectators, local businesses and our band of helpers who have worked so hard to put on such a fantastic day,” commented chairman Humphrey Salwey.

As well as soap box racing, the day had a packed programme of entertainment from the Hereford Landrover off-road club, lawn mower racing, Ludlow Autograss, Ludlow Motor Club, bouncy castle, face painting and an array of food and drink.