THOUSANDS thronged to turn biscuits into missiles at an event devoted to the humble Dorset knob.

The Dorset Knob Throwing and Frome Valley Food Festival held near Cattistock is in its ninth year and has become a favourite on the county's calendars.

Featuring it nominal pastime, knob throwing, and a host of other contests revolving around the knob, the day saw thousands converge on the village.

Knob and spoon racing replaced the traditional country fair staple, drawing a winner from the ranks of the HMS Cattistock, a mine-hunting ship whose crew had a stall at the festival.

Daniel Guest, the winner of coveted the bronze knob, said: "I feel tremendous. I've made Dorset knob festival history."

Oliver Brown, an officer of the HMS Cattistock, said: "We're here supporting the event with the knob catapult and it’s going really well - it's been really busy.

"We're affiliated with the village and people are interested in what we do.

"Our job is really to keep sea lanes clear.

"We've just gone through our operational training to deploy to the Gulf."

Greg Neville, a member of Poole's gig rowing club, and his family came from Poole to enjoy a day among knobs.

He said: "This is our first time here at the knob throwing festival and it's been a great day so far.

"The Poole Gig Rowing Club are all coming down, we're just the front runners."

Nigel Collins, the chairman of the Dorset Knob Throwing Committee, said: "The Dorset Knob Throwing Committee is a serious committee, sometimes.

"The knob and spoon race has gone down really well because the adults can win a bronze knob, and the crew of the HMS Cattistock doing the knob catapult is going well too.

"The easiest one is pin the knob on the Cerne Giant.

"The whole committee is pretty well the same as when it started.

"It began because we seriously needed to raise money for some of our local organisations.

"We needed showers for the football club for example.

"At the time, we weren't bringing enough money in, so we decided to hold an event that was unique.

"The other thing I'm passionate about is eating."

Stalls for locally made non-food products have also started making appearances on the festival ground.

By midday, Mr Collins estimated that 2000 people had vistited the festival.

Mr Collins said: "We live in a beautiful place and there are a lot of things that are made locally that people just aren't aware of.

"This is an area of outstanding natural beauty and it's about promoting the area."