HUNDREDS of people from across the UK descended on Burnham-on-Sea to enter the fold when the third World Paper Aeroplane Championships landed in town.

The High Street was turned into a makeshift runway when hundreds of competitors created some amazing planes using just one sheet of paper on Sunday, August 20.

More than 5,100 planes were thrown on the day with parents and grandparents trying their luck alongside scores of children.

James Heappey, Conservative MP for Burnham-on-Sea, and Tessa Munt, the Liberal Democrat’s last parliamentary candidate for Wells, also took their turns on the runway.

Mark Newman, chairman of Burnham’s Chamber of Trade and Commerce, said the event was ‘a great success’.

“This is the third time the event has been held here in Burnham to encourage more people into our town centre and promote our range of shops and businesses – it was a great success,” he said.

Competition was fierce at the event with the return of two former world champions, Syed Hassan and Richard Curtis, who were in a battle for the top spot.

The returning champions failed to disappoint and both clinched the top spot with a distance of 30.7m.

The pair jointly shared a trophy and a £50 prize fund, which was presented by the Mayor of Burnham Councillor Bill Hancock.

Mr Newman added: “We had a lot of families taking part through the day and our congratulations go to Richard and Syed who threw a mammoth 30.7m with their glider-style paper planes.”

But it was not ‘plane’ sailing for everybody as some crafts crash landed into rooftops in unpredictable wind gusts.

After his win, Richard said he intends to donate his share of the prize money to Burnham charity, In Charley’s Memory.

Sally Raynes, from Wacky Nation, which organised the event, said: “This has again been a big success