FRANTIC flipping was the order of the day on Tuesday, as dozens of teams competed in the annual Launchpad Pancake Race.

The hugely-popular charity event saw a big crowd converge on Broad Street to watch the competition, which was this year won by Theale-based MFG.

This team immediately caught the eye and their Jamaican bobsleigh fancy dress did not appear to put them at a disadvantage.

From an early stage, the four-strong team demonstrated athletic prowess and determination, beating Blandy & Blandy and Davis Tate in the final.

The pancake race has been running for more than 20 years now and a number of special guests were in attendance this year, including Sir John Madejski and the Mayor of Reading, councillor Debs Edwards, to help raise awareness for the homelessness charity.

David Bell, marketing manager at MFG, said: "Launchpad are one of our very valued clients; we have been working with them since the company started.

"This is our third year of doing the pancake race and we are really happy to have won. We came second in the first year and fourth last year. We have got a fresh team this year and I think we will keep it for next year.

"The uniform was my idea. I wanted something that caught the eye, so that we could get on the front of The Reading Chronicle."

Blandy & Blandy were left disappointed after they narrowly missed out on a third successive win at the pancake race, with a total of 36 teams taking part.

There were some other brilliant fancy dress displays, including the Metro Bank 'M' and a team dressed as brides.

Jason McMahon, corporate partnerships manager at Launchpad, added: "I have been officiating the race for five years now. My first week with Launchpad had the pancake race.

"It is the most fun, the most bright and the most engaging way to get the community together.

"We make and build relationships with a lot of people. They may not know a lot about us before today, but after the race we make new partnerships and new supporters going forward.

"I think this year was just as much fun as ever. There were lots of fantastic outfits; people really got into the spirit of it with the fancy dress, which is great to see. We get lots of teams taking it quite seriously now, so this year we actually extended the pen for run-offs in both directions.

"It is always about making sure you flip the pancake. I have had to disqualify teams in the past for going too early or not flipping the pancake enough, so just because you are quick it does not mean you will win.

"You have got to give credit to Bride to Be. Fair play to them to run a pancake race in dresses is a terrific effort."