When a Rayleigh gnome realised he had a contender for his fundraising crown, he did the honourable thing - and challenged him to a fishing competition.
So the Millennium Gnome, from the Travellers Joy Hungry Horse pub in Downhall Road, cast his line and fought it out for a whole minute with Comic Relief's own Millennium Gnome.
Hungry Horse manager Colin Benham said the battle, fought at a makeshift well in the pub car park, was a tough one.
He said: "We have had our gnome for three months, and they haven't had theirs very long, so they copied us.
"Our gnome got £20 more than theirs, and we raised £750 for Comic Relief.
"We are hoping they are going to show it on television on the day."
The gnomes spent one minute fishing red noses from the well, which all had different amounts of money pinned on them.
For his next Millennium stunt, Colin plans to dress up a regular as a sheep, and call him Dolly the Millennium Clone.
Gnome contest - the Millennium Gnome triumphs over Comic Relief's gnome, cheered on by Colin and Bernadette of the Travellers Joy
Picture: NICK ANSELL
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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