WHEN Back Paddock heard about security measures for last weekend's cherry pip-spitting contest in Young, the faint scent of hoax seemed to hover in the air.
Organisers of the National Cherry Festival had received a tip-off from German authorities - on April 1 - that international pip spitters would try to cheat by using pips filled with lead.
So to stop any pip tampering, all competitors had to eat their cherries in front of the judges before the pips were subject to metal detectors and weighed to ensure no one had an advantage.
Josh, from the Young Visitors Centre, insisted to a sceptical Back Paddock the threat was real and they had carried out anti-cheating procedures to the letter.
Apparently, though, they stopped short of strip searches for tampered pips hidden in body cavities.
