Charity fun-runners of all ages, some wearing fancy dress, waded through icy streams, ducked through black tunnels on their hands and knees and scrambled up riverbanks for the return of the Great Brook Run.

Some 188 runners set off from The Tite Inn pub in Chadlington after being called to order at the start of the race with a horn.

The annual festive cross-country race which takes place half on land and half in water was back after a “pandemic-forced pause”.

Runners start at the pub and run alongside The Great Brook for the first half-mile of the race.

At the halfway point, the race becomes much tougher and competitors have to make their way back thrashing through Coldron Brook.

The race ends with runners worming their way through a tunnel, immersed in icy water.

One of the organisers Rachel Godfrey said: "The course was extremely muddy for the first half, going alongside the brook in muddy fields.

“At the halfway point you jump into the brook and run all the way back in the water, which was uneven and stony underfoot and probably a couple of feet deep in places.

“At the end you enter the tunnel under the road, which gets narrower till you have to go on your hands and knees, which isn’t for the fainthearted!

“Once through, you climb up the riverbank bank up a steep ladder, followed by a short sharp hill to the finish. So it’s quite a tough course, but we always have children who complete it successfully.

“Medals for all at the end of it, and beer for some!"

The Great Brook Run has been taking place since 2006 and has the slogan “Run. Get wet. Have a pint”.

Proceeds from the £5 entry fee go towards local good causes.

This year’s event raised an estimated £600 for the Oxfordshire Association for the Blind.

The run made the national news when former Prime Minister and Witney MP David Cameron took part, finishing 25th out of 105 competitors in just under 15 minutes on one occasion and in 19 minutes on another.

After the 2014 event he said: “It was very cold but a great race. I think I came somewhere in the middle, which was respectable.

“It was tough yet good fun and a great way to run off the Christmas turkey."

After completing the course, he was congratulated by his wife, Samantha, and had pint of ale at the Tite.

He was photographed wearing a medal - the event’s website says every runner “no matter how crap” gets one.

The former PM, who took on the race with his children and bodyguard, impressed villagers who said he “deserved respect” for putting himself through it.