A TUG OF WAR team who train in Clacks have returned home with three medals from the world championships.

The Scottish National Tug of War team are put through their paces by coach Bob Warnock at his farm in Clackmannan.

They had their last session in the county on Sunday, February 16, and then travelled to Letterkenny in Ireland for the four-day event which began on Thursday, February 20.

Before travelling, Bob told the Advertiser: "I have been training Indoor Tug of War teams for 20 years and the current squad is as good as any I have prepared before."

The coach even went on to say: "I will be disappointed if we are not in the medals somewhere."

His prediction was correct as the team competed in six weight categories – two club weights and four international weights – and won three golds, taking one club title and two internationals.

Scotland won the 680kg open, 680kg closed and the 640kg closed.

The haul of three medals means this Scotland team are top of the all-time table of world indoor titles with a huge 22, one more than the 'Auld Enemy' England.

In a fitting send-off to one of the team's true veterans, they also had the oldest ever winner of a world title in Gary Gillespie from East Calder.

Gary, who is 65, was in the Scotland team that won the first ever world gold medal in the Republic of Ireland more than 20 years ago in 1999.

This championship was Gary's last as he will be spending his retirement in Greece this autumn.

Bob Warnock, who was been involved with the team since 1999, was thrilled to see his team come back with more medals.

He said: "I am delighted with the team's performance.

"Getting to the top of the medal table for the fourth Championships in a row is an awesome achievement."