AMBLESIDE finished fourth in the British Fell Relay championships at Hayfield in Derbyshire on Saturday with the team of six performing well over the four legs.

Simon Stainer set the ball rolling by finishing fourth after the first leg and his team-mates stayed put over the next three legs to bring the team home in 4-10-50. The other members of the team were T. Smith and C. Waters (leg 2); Ian Mulvey and Dan Golding (leg 3) and Gary Thorpe (leg 4).

Host club Dark Peak used local knowledge to good effect to win in 3-51-36 ahead of Mercia (3-53-46) and Pudsey and Bramley (3-56-45).

Kendal Veterans proved that they are still a force to be reckoned with finishing 17th overall and fifth V40 team but could have finished higher had Phil Clark and Allan Miller not lost their bearings in the mist on the navigation leg. Craig Roberts had got the team off to an excellent start handing over to Steve Varney and Mike Walsh in eighth place. Phil Whiting pulled back five places on the last leg as Kendal came home in 4-25-06.

The first V40 team were Clayton Vets who finished fifth team overall clocking 4-12-16.

Helm Hill finished behind Kendal in 18th place with Billy Procter and Johan Meyfroidt gaining 12 places on the second leg and Alastair Dunn and Paul Brittleton gaining a further 13 to put the team in 15th position at one point following leg three (navigation leg). The other team members were Shaun Addison and Ian Atkinson.

Dark Peak also won the ladies' race in 4-51-27 while the fair sex team from Helm Hill (Jennifer Dunn; Jayne Rigby/Shaar Holard; Nicky Lavery/Jan McKenzie; Ruth Nelson)

finished ninth in 5-53-55. Kendal's Louise Sharp - who led home the ladies on the first leg - and Hilde Krynen were members of the Keswick team that finished third behind Ilkley Ladies in 5-15-46.

One of the day's casualties was Kendal's Ken Dacre who had to be assisted off the fells by a mountain rescue team after falling and sustaining a head injury. He was taken to hospital in Stockport for a check up.

Results: Dark Peak, 3-51-36; 2 Mercia, 3-53-46; Pudsey & Bramley, 3-56-45; 4 Ambleside, 4-10-50; 17 Kendal Vets, 4-25-06; 18 Helm Hill, 4-25-19; 48 Kendal, 4-56-21; 54 Ambleside B, 5-00-44.