A TOP ploughman will compete this weekend in a national championships being held near Basingstoke.

Kevin Alexander, from South Warnborough, qualified last year for the British National Ploughing Championships, which are being held this Saturday and Sunday in Hampshire for the first time in more than three decades.

A record crowd is expected to attend the event at Wootton St Lawrence, where Mr Alexander will compete in the reversible ploughing category.

The 49-year-old lorry driver, who learned to plough on his stepfather’s farm, will also lead a parade of tractors to open the event.

The father-of-three received a confidence boost last weekend, after being declared overall champion in the Basingstoke and District Ploughing contest.

He said: “It is 20 years ago since the National Ploughing Championships were in this area, and it goes all over the country so I haven’t entered before because you have to consider the cost of getting there. But because I saw it was coming to this area, I thought I would give it a go. It’s the best of the best in the country.”

Just under 250 champion ploughmen, including five plough-women, will travel from across Great Britain to take part in the contest this weekend, which is a highlight of the farming year.

The top prize will be to represent the country in the 2015 World Ploughing Contest in Denmark.

Visitors will be able to watch a variety of styles of equipment including modern and vintage tractors as well as horse drawn ploughs. There will also be craft stalls, tractor and trailer rides, and other attractions.