A young British schoolboy has scooped up gold in a unique competition where competitors attempt to copy seagulls.
Cooper Wallace from Chesterfield, Derbyshire won Gold in the "Meeuwenschreeuwen" or gull screams championship in Belgium.
The nine-year-old was first inspired after being pecked by a seagull on a seaside holiday.
After competing, he won the junior league, scoring 92 out of 100, more than any of the 56 competitors, including 46 adults.
The Belgian coastal town of De Panne hosts the competition every year
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Cooper said: "I just wanted to make the noise to remember I got pecked by one...but I like seagulls.
"My mum said just follow the seagull noise and the man next to us just could not stop laughing and told us about it. We decided to go. My school friends thought it was annoying at first. But not now. I did it."
The competition, held every year in the coastal town of De Panne aims to do away with the poor reputation of seagulls by making humans imitate their screams and actions.
Contestants, dressed and behaving like seagulls, are judged on their ability to mimic the bird’s screeching call.
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Spokesman for the Flanders Marine Institute Jan Seys said there was serious motive behind the contest
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President of the jury and spokesman for the Flanders Marine Institute Jan Seys said: "We pay attention to timbre, rhythm as well as variation.
"After all, seagulls have a fairly extensive repertoire of sounds, ranging from alarm calls to long calls that make it clear that they do not want any unwanted intruders in their territory. The gull caller who can capture this variation well, and demonstrate it as truthfully as possible, wins."
Claude Willaert, organiser of the event, said to Cooper: "Your life will never be the same again. This is a double first, as the UK was represented at our European championships for the first time."
Winner of the adult gold medal was Simão João, a Portuguese contestant and scientific researcher at Imperial College London.
Joke De Keyrel, 26, from Belgium, took bronze, dressed in scanty seaside attire. She said: "Make seagulls sexy."
Seys said there was a serious motive behind the competition.
He said: "It is more than fun and entertainment, it is also meant to elicit some sympathy for seagulls, which are an essential element of our coasts but are often maligned as 'rats of the sea'," he said.
"Also, we conceive of the judging as serious business, with a jury composed of professionals experienced in gull research and/or policy."