A grandmother whose Victoria Sponge was honoured with runner-up spot in a village fete cake-baking contest was rather disappointed to discover she'd actually been the only competitor, the BBC reports.

Jenny Brown, 62, recounted: "My friend came over to me at the fete and said I had come second. I asked her how many more entries there had been, but she just started laughing and said I was the only one."

In fact, Brown's concoction fell foul of Wimblington Sports Committee's judges who marked her effort down "because it had indentations from the oven rack". The committee's Julie Dent explained: "The judges had an expectation and I suppose they didn't feel as though it qualified for first place."

Brown sportingly described herself as "not annoyed" at the snub, and added that despite its deficiencies, the Victoria Sponge was "soon polished off with no complaints".

In case you're thinking the judges may in this case have been just a little harsh, Dent bore witness to the ruthless judging standards of competitive cake-making. "About 11 years ago I entered a show with some fruit scones. I was the only entrant but I came third," she lamented.

Of the Wimblington cake challenge, Dent assured: "This was the first year, but the cake competition will become an annual event." ®

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