Chickens, red arrows and mini buses gathered in Telegraph Hill Park to race around its hilly course at a soap box derby over the bank holiday weekend.

The event was the second of its kind to be held in the park after the first derby in September 2017.

Martin Edwards, 63, organised this year’s race with friend Brian McKenzie and a team of “incredibly hard-working” volunteers.

Speaking to News Shopper, the retired GP who has lived in Telegraph Hill for 32 years said he was first inspired to bring a soapbox derby to Telegraph Hill after watching the Red Bull Soap Box Derby events on TV.

He joked the 2017 derby, which saw 11 people race through the park, was “middle-aged blokes getting other middle-aged blokes to ride their carts.”

But interest in the event grew, with 19 people taking their carts to the hill in the park this year for another race.

With designs ranging from a box of fried chicken to a mini version of the 343 bus, Mr Edwards described the event as “a really good time” for all involved.

“We have to be quite careful about health and safety when organising an event like this, but most of the participants had a real ‘Bring it on’ attitude,” he told News Shopper.

A judging panel made up of Sanjit Chuda, Angel McMahon and freelance writer Susan Edwards decided which carts deserved prizes, with the ‘Chicken Run’ team taking home the best-dressed award.

Mrs Edwards, who is married to Martin, said: “Watching the soap box derbies on TV on a Saturday afternoon was our guilty pleasure.

“The park has been a venue for lots of events and it is an important part of being around here. We considered the idea of bringing a derby to the park but thought: ‘Oh, it will never happen.’”

When Mr Edwards took part in the first event, he decorated his cart with multicoloured paper flowers which had been left over from his daughter’s wedding the week before. He described the event as “a fun day out for everyone involved” – despite crashing his cart.

“Let’s be honest - if there was a soapbox derby with no crashes, the audience would have been a teeny bit disappointed,” Mrs Edwards joked.

She paid tribute to the derby’s sponsors – Telegraph Hill Festival and Skehans pub – for their involvement in the race.

She also praised the supporters who gathered around the route to cheer on the racers.

“The whole of the route had people on it. You would hear the cheering at the start and then you would hear it spread around the corner.”