RIVAL town criers must quake in their chains when they hear the name ‘Alistair Chisholm’.

Dorchester’s flamboyant town crier has lifted the National Town Criers Challenge Cup for the seventh time.

This is the third time in a row that Mr Chisholm has claimed victory at the Hastings competition.

He said: “I think the hearts of the other criers might sink when they see that I’ve pitched up.

“I’m thinking about offering my services as a host for next year.

“It does seem a bit of a shame that the town crier in Hastings doesn’t have the chance to enter the competition because he is the regular host.”

The competition – which began in 1937 – consists of two rounds, with criers required to extol the virtues of their home town in round one and the host venue in the second round.

Mr Chisholm cried about the trolley bus system in Hastings, which has one of the largest networks in the country.

He was pitted against 17 other competitors from across the country.

Criers were judged on their sustained volume, their diction, clarity and inflection within their piece.

And it would appear as though Mr Chisholm’s passionate cry paid off.

“The judges obviously found something appealing about my cry.

“I think it’s to do with the inflection of my cry – a lot of criers concentrate solely on their cry, but I think that if you can get a bit of expression into the cry, it makes it more interesting to listen to,” he said.

After the competition formalities were over, the town criers took part in a parade and joined residents for a fireworks display.

Mr Chisholm added: “Thousands of people turned out for the fireworks and it was a wonderful way to end a lovely day.

“I’m absolutely delighted with how things turned out.”