A POPULAR event has returned after a number of years away.

Bala and District Motor Club ran the Conwy Motorsport Engineering Rali Cwm Cynfal for the first time in three years, with a base at the Trawsfynydd Ranges.

The event consisted of 13 tests, seven on the Ranges and six on nearby farm tracks.

A total of 45 crews started the event on a rain-soaked day.

The top-three cars would be split by a handful of seconds with the local crew of Dewi Jones and Daniel Jones leading, ahead of Iwan Roberts Jnr / Huw Parry a close second and the Mold crew of Howard Price and Phil Sant third.

In the second half of the event, Price and Sant made their four-wheel drive Subaru's additional grip count in the slippy conditions taking a slender win from the Jones duo, with Roberts Jnr / Parry coming home third.

As ever, the whole point of the rally was to raise money for the North Wales Air Ambulance, with all profits from the event being donated to this worthy cause.

On the day, £1,000 was raised culminating in the Bala and District Motor Club donating a cheque for £5,000 to the cause when adding money raised in other events.

A spokesman for the club said: “As a club we feel its important to support this charity as we have a largely rural membership from rural communities, in such areas the Air Ambulance could be the literal difference between life and death."