A SKITTLES team from Yate, compromising mostly family members, has won a competition for a third time.

The Brankin family from Yate in Gloucestershire, made up the majority of the Newmen team who beat off opposition from 11 teams who had travelled from Bristol, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset and Wales to Torquay in South Devon for a weekend of skittles.

The team, who play out of Jacksons Social Club, scored 411 to beat their nearest rivals, Melksham Sports from Wiltshire, by just three pins in a nail-biting final.

The Newmen have been entering a series of events for the past 14 years and claimed previous victories in 2010 and 2015. But their team history goes back much further than that.

The team was formed about forty years ago by Eddie Rankin, playing at Newman’s Electric Motors Factory. His son Alan took over the reins as captain and is joined in the team by his wife Susan, two brothers and his son-in-law, Brad Prosser.

Team secretary Susan Brankin said the victory was down to ‘a steady performance and a little bit of luck.’