Mid-afternoon visitors to Llanfyllin on Saturday may have been forgiven if they had to rub their eyes once or twice when seeing some of the sights in the street.

But it was all for a good cause as a group of men came together to take part in a 'drag race' around the town, starting in the square, with mayor Councillor Simon Baynes joining them on foot.

Julian Raymond-Sandy, who organised the event, said the inaugural event was designed to raise awareness for prostate and testicular cancer in a rural community.

"It's for men to take a stand against cancer," he said.

"I saw something similar in Southampton and I thought one night in the pub that we should do it.

"We are a community that doesn't really talk about cancer in men so this is a way for us to get awareness and people talking.

"We had raised £500 before we even had the race and the evening entertainment. But this year is about raising awareness rather than numbers and we hope that many more will take part next year."

Beth Jones, who takes part in and helps to organise a Cancer Research challenge, supported Julian in his efforts.

"It's the first year, so we weren't sure how many we'd have," she added.

"There's been no sponsorship forms, but we're raising awareness for the men in the town."

Cllr Baynes was delighted to be there and supporting the event.

He added: "I'm giving it the full level of support it deserves.

"The town council thinks it's a great idea and we are delighted to support it."

The daytime effort was then supported by an evening of entertainment, where Julian hoped to raise hundreds more.