WALLACE and Gromit are over the moon but The Grumpy Old Men are not too happy.

And the Pizza Lads have the perfect recipe for success.

If one thing is for sure, you won't find a stranger set of team names in any league in East Lancashire.

Yes, welcome to the Burnley Tenpin Bowling Tuesday Doubles League.

While fun seems to be the main ingredient of the league, with £4,500 worth of prize money up for grabs there is definitely a serious side.

And with 20p handed over for every point earned, even the league's strugglers are quids in at the end of the season.

And after week 27 of the 42 week series, Wallace and Gromit have taken over at the top of the Handicap League - despite being held to a 4-4 draw. But the point for Lauren Armstrong and Paul Whittingham off Godfrey Small and Alan Hutchinson was enough to move to the top.

Long term leaders, Rovers Return - Martin Lamb and Anne Fish - slipped down to second place after a surprise defeat.

Rovers lost to Blackpool Seasiders 6-2, made up of Superbowl manager Julie Heaton and Jezz Bailey.

And it is the Pizza Lads who are holding on to their lead at the top of the Scratch League.

The defending champions, Andy Constantine and John Williams beat Ronnie May and Michael Thornton - better known as Atlanta 96 - 6-2 to stay on top of the league.

However the Lads are not having it all their own way and they have seen a 20 point lead reduced to five points.

That has been mainly down to the form of the chasing pack - lead by The Bush Wackers and The Kays and Jays.

Both recorded 8-0 victories to close in on The Pizza Lads. The Bush Wackers, league secretary Tony Mellor and Lancashire player Stuart Knapper beat The Bobbins, better known as Rob Priestland and Linda Brown.

And the Kays and Jays, Keith Jackson and Jeff Foster, beat husband and wife team Brian and Liz Hutchinson playing under the name of Piggin Bowlers.

League secretary Tony Mellor said: "The great thing about tenpin bowling is that you don't have to be a particularly good bowler and that is why it is popular with both men and women.

"However we have got some very talented bowlers who have gone on to represent Lancashire." Did you know:

A similar game to tenpin bowling was played in ancient Egypt.

In Germany, congregations played at bowling in church cloisters and from there is spread to Britain and the rest of Europe.

The game was taken to America by Dutch settlers in the 17th century when the target consisted of nine pins. A tenth pin was later added and it is this form that bowling has become popular, especially in America.

In 1895, the American Bowling Congress codified the rules and standardised the equipment.

Tenpin bowling is set to become an Olympic sport

A strike, which is knocking all 10 pins down, is worth 10 points. Three strikes on the trot is known as a turkey.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.