It started when he shouted a warning to children playing on a bouncy castle at a birthday party.

Now Mark Wylie is an internationally-recognised town crier with more than 50 competition wins to his name.

The 55-year-old official Calne town crier has just added another title to his name, after coming first in the Sir Francis Drake Armada Cup in Devon.

He won the trophy after the town crying equivalent of a penalty shoot-out with a crier from Bermuda: a cry-off, which the judges decided he won.

Mark’s official duties in his home town include announcements at the annual ceremony to install Calne’s mayor, and other civic processions.

Mark, who works in IT, and is married with grown-up children, says he loves representing the Wiltshire town in competitions around the country.

Criers are judged on four criteria: sustained volume over up to 125 words, clarity, diction and inflexion.

Mark said he was now part of an international community of people who use their voices to literally shout about their home areas.

“The reason I do it is because I have made such good friends, and because I love representing my town. Calne is a lovely market town, steeped in history, that most people don’t know exists.”

Mark acknowledged that town crying appeared anachronistic in a social media age.

But he said: “It’s fun, it’s colourful.”