A 900-year-old ritual where married couples compete for a side of bacon by impressing a 'court' of singletons is being revived.

Loved-up spouses must prove their unwavering marital commitment to 12 single men and women who decide their fate.

The winning couple receive a flitch - or side - of bacon before being carried on a chair at shoulder height through raucous streets.

The light-hearted tradition, dating back to 1104, is held in Great Dunmow every four years.

But it has been postponed for the last two years due to the Covid pandemic.

Now organisers are preparing for a return of the so-called Dunmow Flitch Trials this July.

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The event sees five couples - who must have been married for at least 12 months and a day – acting as 'claimants' as they step into a public 'courtroom' with a judge, jury and defence counsel.

Spouses offer evidence of the strength of their marriage – such as how they settle arguments – and are challenged by the defence counsel who aims to prevent the couple from claiming the famed flitch.

The jurors - made up of six maidens and six bachelors – ultimately decide which couples are worthy of the bacon.

The jury must be convinced that the couple, "in twelvemonth and a day", have "not wisht themselves unmarried again", as per the nine-century-old tradition.

Helen Haines, vice-chair of the event's committee, said: "The counsel are sharpening their pencils, the pigs are being fattened, the judge is trying on his robes and the jury are eagerly awaiting their chance to play a part in history."

Couples from around the world can take part and previous participants have come from as far afield Australia and Canada.

Applications for this year's flitch trials are now closed, but the event is open to the public to watch.