Sun shines on return of TV event

Christopher, Robert and Michael Bradbury won the top prize as the ITV Meridian sandcastle competition returned to the town.

Their 8ft long dolphin on the shore was judged by television presenter Marcella Whittingdale to be the best of the some 125 entries in the contest.

Christopher (ten) said: 'I'm excited about winning. I'm impressed by our sandcastle when I look at it. I look forward to seeing it on television.'

He and Robert (eight) and six-year-old Michael, of Laburnum Grove, spent about an hour creating their winning sculpture.

Their dad, Timothy, said: 'Christopher got a drawing book of seaside creatures and picked out a dolphin in there and decided to create it.'

The brothers won a Meridian TV goodie bag as their prize. Their result improved on their previous unsuccessful entry in the competition when it last came to Bognor in 2004.

Third-place winners Amy, Kirsty and Lucy Bailey were also members of the same family.

The sisters, aged 11, eight and six, from Pound Road in Walberton used their creative skills to depict a mermaid.

Kirsty said: 'We were just drawing pictures last night and thought a mermaid would be a good sandcastle to do but it was a little bit hard.'

It was their debut in a sandcastle making competition.

The runners-up were Middleton entrants Lily Holland and Alex Carman, who made a cake to celebrate Lily's birthday.

The contest is set to be shown on Meridian Tonight on August 10. The return of the competition drew an enthusiastic response from children under 12 and their parents.

A queue greeted Marcella, on her last appearance for Meridian TV before she joins GMTV, and evergreen presenter Fred Dinenage when they arrived on the seafront.

They overcame the blustery and generally overcast conditions to devise a range of designs which tested the judgment of Ms Whittingdale to separate them.

Mr Dinenage said: 'There was a very good quality of entries. I know Marcella found it very difficult to choose the winners. There were five good ones in particular out of which she had to pick the top three.

'It's been a good event.

'We were a bit worried when we arrived and it was cloudy and we didn't have any sand, which is a basic requisite for a sandcastle competition.

'But the sun came out for a while and the sand appeared and everyone had a really happy time.'