THE strongest strongmen in the land will descend on the county next month.

Pocklington's sports centre will host the Samson Team Giants tournament, the official qualifiers for the European Team Championships which in turn will be held in Hungary in July.

These qualifiers are effectively the biggest strongman tournament in the country, the most prestigious being the BBC-televised Britain's Strongest Man, and will involve the top 14 competitors from all over the British Isles.

All 14 will split into seven teams of pairs for the competition, which is being organised by York's very own world-beating strongman, Rob Dixon, who owns Samson and Delilah gyms in York and Pocklington.

"It's going to be a big show and we're hoping to get a few thousand people down," said Dixon, who has dropped to 11th in the world in the strongman rankings but remains second in Britain behind Glen Ross."The competitors we've got are fantastic, and most have been to world competitions."

The seven teams will compete in six events which comprise the crane pull (involving a 40-ton crane), the log lift (which weighs 32st), the stone of strength, basque circle, Samson's barrow (running 30 metres with a Land Rover Discovery) and the barrel load and build (building a pyramid out of nine 125kg beer barrels).

The tournament takes place on Sunday, April 7, at Pocklington Sports Centre, football and social club, where a roadshow and entertainment will be put on all day.

Tickets for the event can be bought on the door, priced £5 for adults, £1 for under-10s.

Updated: 09:19 Thursday, March 14, 2002