World Conker Championships could be called off after nuts weather frazzled this year's crop

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 13:06 EDT, 13 September 2026 | Updated: 13:52 EDT, 13 September 2026 The World Conker Championships could be called off after consecutive heatwaves shrunk this year's chestnuts. The organisers of the international annual event in Southwick, Northamptonshire - set to take place on October 11 - are debating whether to go ahead with the competition over fears the hot summer has frazzled Britain's chestnuts. Bosses fear the nuts harvested after this summer will be too small to take part in the tournament, which requires 3,000 large two-inch wide conkers to take place. The roughly 2,500 fans and 256 players who were set to take part will be sorely disappointed if the decision to call it off is made. The competition's organisers will make the decision at a meeting on September 30 after conducting a nationwide review of the quality of Britain's conkers. St John Burkett, spokesperson for the World Conker Championships, said: 'We have deep concern that we will not have enough decent size conkers to play with. It looks like a shortage of them. 'We thought last year was bad, but this year is even worse. It looks like the worst year ever for conkers.' He added: 'It's clear there will be problems with conkers following the heatwaves, especially given the terrible harvests for other water-stressed trees including apples, pears and hawthorns. A competitor pictured swinging his conker during the first round of the annual championships last year This year's organisers fear the hot summer has shrunk the conkers, which need to be two inches wide each 'Some chestnut trees have no conkers at all, some have unripe conker husks, and some have many conkers but look small - and small conkers are no good to play with as they don't break properly. 'Ahead of our September 30 meeting, we have asked our committee members across the country to conduct a review of trees in their areas to establish the likelihood of having enough large conkers to play with. 'We need 3,000 large conkers for the competition. We would encourage members of the public to check conker trees in their area and report to us on their quality via our website.' It is not the first time the World Conker Championships have faced a crisis. In 2024, they were hit by a 'cheating' scandal after the losing grand finalist was found with a steel dummy conker in his pocket - having won bouts in one hit. David Jakins, 82, won his quarter and semi-final in one strike - almost unheard of in the game - clinching the men's title in a surprise run to victory at the 46th attempt after competing annually since 1977.He eventually lost in the grand final to first-time competitor Kelci Banschbach, 34, from Indianapolis in Indiana - who became the first American to clinch the title since it began in 1965. But when retired engineer Jakins was searched after the event, he was found to have a steel conker, shaped and painted to look real, and threaded on an identical lace, concealed in a pocket. Amid further allegations of a 'fix', Jakins - who was also the tournament's top judge and had the nickname 'King Conker' - drilled and inserted strings in other competitors' chestnuts.Jakins denies cheating and claimed he carried around his steel conker for 'humour value', insisting he never used it during the contest. The subsequent probe, which considered video and photographic evidence as well as testimony and examination of winning conkers, concluded that Mr Jakins' men's win - his first since he began competing in 1977 - was achieved fairly. But it led to airport-style security at last year's championships, designed to prevent another scandal. Organiser St John Burkett said last year of the tightened security measures: 'We had an airport-style scanner which competitors had to pass through, including a tray for them to empty their pockets in. 'We also had a hand-held scanner, and sirens and flashing lights should anything untoward be detected by the scanner. And, in keeping with the event, the ringmaster had a big magnet on a stick.'READ MORE: World Conker Championships is hit by scandal after losing Grand Finalist is found with a dummy STEEL horse chestnut - while American first time player clinches title