The price of elvers has risen dramatically over the years

The Three Horseshoes Pub in Frampton on Severn hosted the competition until 1990, when young eels became too expensive.

This year, instead of elvers, contestants will eat a pound of stringy pasta.

Elvers drift from the Sargasso Sea for three years before they reach the West's Severn Estuary.

Their price has risen dramatically over the last 30 years.

In equivalent terms, a pound used to cost twelve and a half pence.

A kilo will now fetch anything between a �100 and �150, with exports booming to countries like Japan and China.