IT WAS go, go, go at the Oasis Leisure Centre this weekend as hundreds of people made tracks to Swindon’s eighth annual Scalextric Swapmeet.

Yesterday’s event, organised by Scalextric collector Robert Learmouth, of Priory Vale, saw more than 500 people flood the leisure centre to bag a bargain or race their favourite cars.

As well as 62 slot-car stalls, the most the event has ever had, the event also boasted a 50ft long drag strip and race track and four tracks which invited people of all ages to have a race and try and clock the quickest time.

Robert, who has collected Scalextric since he was a child, said: “It went really well with a lot of tables, more than we have had before squeezed into a small space which is great.

“What I want to do is get families coming to this event because the collectors and enthusiasts will always come but it is the families that I want to see here enjoying the cars and getting interested in Scalextric.

“I think why it is so popular is because anyone can do it from the young to the old and you have people who played it when they were young who are now bringing up their own children playing it.

“It is also accessible, we had someone in a wheelchair come along and play it. The moment you can pull the trigger you can play.”

The event is always held at the beginning of the year to cater for those who received their first Scalextric sets at Christmas and there were plenty of families among the enthusiasts experiencing Scalextric for the first time.

Stuart McNaulty, 49, from Redhouse, was there with his 12-year-old son Tom. He said it was great that they had the chance to get hands on with some of the tracks.

He said: “This is a great event not only for all the enthusiasts here but for the families.

“I was brought up playing Scalextric and now I have got back into it with my son and I think he enjoys just looking at all the model cars. He beat me on one of the tracks so I need to get my own back but it is really good we can have a go.”