It is not only the sheep who will be shorn at a country event supported by the Kent Messenger but one of the committee members.

Ian Lucas, who has been helping to organise the Romney Shears International Shearing Competition, will face the clippers on Sunday, July 13, at Aragon Farm, Sissinghurst.

Mr Lucas, who has not shaved or had his hair cut since March, will face the clippers in a sponsored shear with money raised going to the Kent Air Ambulance Trust.

The contestants, including shearers from New Zealand and Australia, will compete in a variety of hotly-contested shearing classes involving about 1,000 sheep.

Among the guests will be Maidstone and the Weald MP Ann Widdecombe and the Mayor of Tunbridge Wells Cllr Michael Rusbridge.

The event, which will run from 8.30am-5.30pm, will also feature sheep dog demonstrations, hand spinning, vintage tractors and farming equipment, ferret racing and face painting.

Stalls will sell a variety of produce from home-made biscuits and watercolour paintings to garden products and yarns produced by Aragon Farm owner Hugh Skinner and his family.

Admission costs £3 for adults, £2 for children and is free for children under six. No dogs are allowed.