Cheese rolling live updates: Daredevils descend on village to chase Double Gloucester wheel down steep hill in one of UK’s most extreme races – watch live

Here’s a live stream of today’s cheese rolling at Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire.

Hardy daredevils have been throwing themselves downhill as Gloucestershire’s renowned Cheese Rolling race rolled back into action – only not for the faint-hearted.

Eager participants marked this May Bank Holiday Monday by hurtling down Cooper’s Hill, at Brockworth near Gloucester, as part of a longstanding national tradition.

The event challenges people to pursue a 3kg Double Gloucester cheese rolling down the steep 200 yard hill, though has also prompted safety warnings in recent years.

Here are the latest pictures from Cooper’s Hill with the first cheese rolling race just 10 minutes away.

Two late cheese rolling champions will be remembered at this year’s event with races held in their honour.

The first men’s race will be held in memory of Izzy John, who died in 2015, and the second to Steve Brain, who died in 2018.

Both men, who were described as ‘fearless’ won more than 30 cheeses between them.

Mr Brain’s friend Lee Chapman told the BBC his friend’s dying wishes were for his ashes to be scattered at the top of Cooper’s Hill.

They blew everywhere. He’ll always be here.

While Mr John first raced down the hill as a 13-year-old in 1956 and broke his ankle, leaving his mother very unhappy.

The next year, his mum was going back to Wales. I think he won two or three cheeses that year.

Cheese rolling has become increasingly popular with international competitors with winners last year hailing from Australia, the US while one local hero took home the cheese.

Let’s take a look at who achieved Double Gloucester glory 12 months ago:

• German YouTuber Tom Kopke, from Munich, won the first men’s downhill race.

The 22-year-old said afterwards:

I am absolutely buzzing, it was an amazing experience. The unfortunate thing is I can’t really remember anything about it. I promised my grandma I am going to give it to her, so she is going to get the cheese.

• Australian Dylan Twiss, aged 25, won the second race and said he decided to travel to Gloucestershire after learning about the race at his home in Perth.

I was trying to stay on my feet. Then I started rolling so I just had to go with it. Every time I found my feet were on the ground I took another couple of steps.

• US student Abby Lampe, from North Carolina, won her second title last year after she was first crowned a cheese champion in 2022.

Speaking afterwards, she said:

I get recognised locally sometimes, and I have to explain like, yeah, I won this race two years ago. And it’s becoming aged. I don’t want to cling onto a victory that I’ve won two years ago because it becomes irrelevant. That’s why I came this year, to defend the title that I had won two years ago and bring the title back to the U.S.

And Josh Shepherd, from Brockworth, won the third men’s race of the day and told the BBC he had to ‘bring it home for Brockworth’.

American YouTube sensation Darren Jason Watkins Jr, known online as IShowSpeed or Speed, stunned crowds in Gloucestershire last year when he pitched up to make his cheese rolling debut.

The 20-year-old said he needed to go to hospital after he raced in the event last May but that despite his injuries he wanted to return.

Speaking at the time, he told the BBC he finished fourth in the opening race:

It looks scary, but once that first slide, you’re like, ‘you know what, I can do this’. I want to do it again because I know how to win now.

His surprise appearance came after the YouTuber was apparently invited to Manchester United’s FA Cup winners’ party

• Read more about Speed’s cheese rolling appearance here

Tewkesbury Borough Council has again raised concerns over public safety as cheese rollers return to Cooper’s Hill.

Last year, members of the Tewkesbury Borough Safety Advisory Group (SAG) said they were worried as to how emergency services would be able to respond if there was a major incident with multiple casualties.

Tewkesbury councillor Murray Stewart, said:

The cheese rolling at Cooper’s Hill is a unique tradition in our county and we have no desire to stop it. However, as the event does not have an official organiser, the relevant documentation and plans detailing how members of the public will be kept safe, has not been submitted.

The Safety Advisory Group has been left with no alternative other than to declare the event unsafe and has a duty to share this with the public. We are advising those planning to attend or participate in the cheese rolling to consider the risks they might be putting themselves in.

Rebel cheese rollers have been staging their own unofficial event after health and safety fears caused the official competition to be cancelled in 2010.

Six races are taking place at Cooper’s Hill with the first scheduled for 12pm and the last at 1:30pm.

There are three men’s races, one women’s event and two uphill challenges for younger competitors.

Here is the order of the day

• 12pm – First men’s downhill – in honour of Izzy John
• 12:15pm – Under 11s uphill
• 12:30pm – Second men’s downhill – in honour of Steve Brain
• 12:45pm – Over 12s uphill
• 1pm – Women’s downhil
• 1:15pm – Adult mixed uphill
• 1:30pm – Third men’s downhill

Cheese rolling has become a somewhat of a May bank holiday tradition as participants throw themselves down a village hill after a wheel of Double Gloucester.

The wheel, which is often around 7lbs, can reach speeds of up to 70mph as runners attempt to catch it or be first to cross the finish line.

The winner of each race is allowed to keep the wheel as a prize.

The event has been celebrated for centuries and is thought to have its roots in a heathen festival to mark the return of spring.

Everyone competing in the downhill races must be over the age of 18.

Races are free to enter and no registration is required.

Standing at 180m (590ft) high, Cooper’s Hill is the steepest slope in Gloucestershire with loose rocks, twigs and stinging nettles along the way down.

The size of the hill means very few cheese rollers are able to stay on their feet with many falling and injuring themselves during races.

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the annual cheese rolling race in Gloucestershire.

Every year thousands of people visit Cooper’s Hill in Brockworth as daredevils from across the world compete to chase for a wheel of Double Gloucester.

We’ve become used to the sight of people sprinting, tripping and tumbling down the steep bank in the name of cheese in what has become one of the most extreme and bizarre events in the British calendar.

Stick with us as we bring you live coverage including news, pictures and videos from the event.

We will also provide a live stream so you can watch the races as they unfold with the first one scheduled for 12pm.