EUROPE’S finest dodgeball players gathered in the North-East at the weekend for the first ever staging of a major tournament.

The Northern European Dodgeball Championships, which was a showcase of the greatest dodgeball teams in Northern Europe, will be held at Middlesbrough Sport Village.

The tournament, which featured the home nations, as well as the Republic of Ireland, France and Sweden, saw England win the men's, women's and mixed competition.

Scotland came second in the men's and mixed event, Northern Ireland came second in the women's event, as well as third in the men's and mixed, and Wales came third in the women's competition.

The event is the first of a busy schedule for the sport over the coming months, which concludes with the World Cup in August.